After China lifted a three-year embargo on Brazilian beef exports, the South American nation is set to begin exporting the meat to China from early June
According to Reuters, eight Brazilian beef processing plants and one poultry plant were approved to be shipped to China, said the Brazilian agricultural ministry after President Dilma Rousseff and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang signed trade, finance and investment deals worth billions of dollars.
Among the beef plants approved for export, five are JBS SA – the world’s largest meat producer, two from Marfrig and one from Minerva.
In addition to Brazil, Ireland will also begin exporting beef to China, after the Southeast Asian nation lifted the embargo on Irish exports as well. Ireland is the world’s fifth-largest beef exporter, after Australia, Brazil, Netherlands, and the USA.
In 2012, exports of beef to China from Brazil were stopped due to the fear of mad-cow disease. The World Animal Health Organisation, however, has declared Brazil to have ‘insignificant risk’ of the disease.
