Mexico announced this Monday sanitary requirements that open the doors for the first time to import beef from Brazil, while the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador seeks sources of food supply to combat high levels of inflation.
The State of Santa Catarina will be able to export fresh, chilled or frozen meat on the bone as long as it has a foot-and-mouth disease situation without vaccination, the Agriculture Secretariat (Sader) said in a note.
Another 14 Brazilian states, including important producers such as Goiás, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, will be able to export to Mexico only matured and boneless meat due to its sanitary condition free of foot-and-mouth disease with vaccination.
Mexico’s endorsement of Brazilian meat was criticized by local producers who warn of health risks. Brazil has been trying for years to get the US country to grant it authorization to send meat to its market.
López Obrador has launched some programs to fight inflation, which shows no signs of slowing down, mainly underlying inflation, a better parameter to measure the trajectory of prices, which led the Bank of Mexico to raise its base rate to the current 11%.
Last week, the president said he had spoken with several of his Latin American counterparts to launch a joint plan against inflation that would include the elimination of tariffs and other measures for trade in food and goods.
Sader also reported that Brazil maintained its status of negligible risk for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), known as “mad cow” disease, after an atypical case of the disease was detected in the state of Pará at the end of February.
