Brazil is seeking to reverse a ban on Brazilian beef imports enacted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week. The Associated Press reports Brazil’s agriculture minister will travel to the U.S. to address officials regarding the ban. While the U.S. says the ban will remain in place until Brazil takes corrective action to safety concerns, Brazil says it will fight to end the ban. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s decision was announced three months after a major scandal into allegations of bribed meat inspectors that were allowing tainted meat to pass inspection. Perdue says that since USDA started inspecting 100 percent of beef imports from Brazil, U.S. inspectors have refused entry to 11 percent of Brazilian fresh beef products, about 1.9 million pounds. Brazil’s agriculture minister attributed USDA’s safety concerns to the lumps some steers develop as a result of an allergic reaction to a vaccine against the foot-and-mouth disease. He claims the lumps did not represent a public health hazard.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.