US mission inspects Brazil meatpackers

A US mission is on a veterinary visit to Brazil to inspect beef and pork packers. The entourage attended their first meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply in Brasília on Monday (Jun 10), and is to start inspections at slaughterhouses, federal laboratories, and inspection service facilities across six Brazilian states.

The auditing is slated to end on June 28 and should cover slaughterhouses in the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Goiás, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and Mato Grosso do Sul.

Also to be visited are the Federal Laboratories of Agricultural Defense in São Paulo and Minas Gerais, as well as analysis centers belonging to the Agriculture Ministry.

Brazil has met all requirements made by US authorities regarding the quality of its products, the ministry reported, and the country is now ready to start exporting fresh beef to the US.

Inspections are also expected to be conducted at inspection facilities of the Agriculture Ministry in São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and Goiás by two teams made up of six veterinaries with the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

History

In June 2017, US authorities suspended the purchase of  beef from Brazil following a reaction to a vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease in cattle. These reactions prompted a reduction in the dose from 5 to 2 ml and the removal of saponin from the product composition.

In 2015, Brazil was allowed to export fresh beef to the US after legal procedures took 15 years. Exports were limited to thermoprocessed meat.