EU Approves 106 Brazilian Farms For Beef Exports

UK - On Wednesday the European Commission placed 106 Brazilian farm holdings onto the ‘positive list’ of farms eligible for export to the EU. According to a Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) bulletin, all of these holdings have been confirmed as complying with the EU quality and traceability requirements.

3 March 2008

2 minute read

Europe

Therefore, deboned and matured meat derived from cattle originating in these holdings will be allowed for import into the EU.

Some commentators have questioned whether 106 farms will be able to supply sufficient numbers of cattle for a large export plant to resume exporting to the EU, because plants selling to the EU have to be exclusively dedicated to that trade. The current ‘positive list’ is only a small fraction of the holdings that had been eligible for export prior to the end of January 2008 (10,000 holdings), and is even a far cry from the 2,681 eligible holdings that were submitted to the EU in January 2008. However, given the size of the EU market both in terms of the volume and value of exports for Brazil it is expected that exports will resume sooner rather than later.

EU farm inspections begin in Brazil

On Monday (25 Feb) the team of inspectors from the EU Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) started their three week visit to Brazil. They will carry out a number of spot checks on the 106 holdings included in the ‘positive list’ to verify that they meet the new EU rules. They will also examine some of the other premises on the latest list of 200 holdings submitted by the Brazilian Authorities to the EU last week.

EU ban costing up to £41million per month

The executive director of the Brazilian Exporters' Association (ABIEC), Antonio Camardelli, has reported that the EU embargo on Brazilian meat could cost exporters about US$80 million a month (approximately £41 million). The Brazilian meat sector is trying to redirect beef that was originally destined for the EU to other export markets, because it is only practical to sell 25 per cent of this beef on the domestic market.

Exports fall as prices rise

Brazilian beef exports for January 2008 have fallen by nine per cent compared to January 2007 to 111,000 tonnes. The total value of exports has increased by 37 per cent to approximately £224 million due to a 50 per cent rise in the price of exports. Exports to the EU increased by 1five per cent over the same period to almost 28,000 tonnes at an average value of almost £3,100/tonne. The Netherlands was the major EU destination taking almost 10,000 tonnes, while exports to the UK rose eight per cent to nearly 8,500 tonnes.