Brazil And The U.S. Resuming Beef Trade

By Amanda Blair,
Associate Professor & SDSU Extension Meat Science Specialist

The USDA recently announced that an agreement has been reached with Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply to allow access for U.S. beef to the Brazilian market. This is the first time that U.S. beef has been approved for export to Brazil since the diagnosis of a bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)-positive cow in 2003. Brazil’s actions reflect the fact that the U.S. is now under the ‘negligible risk classification’ for BSE by the World Organization for Animal Health. As a result of this classification USDA has worked to re-open global markets, such as Brazil, to U.S. beef exports.

In a separate decision, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) also determined that fresh beef can be imported from Brazil to the U.S. This decision was based on a scientific review of Brazil’s food safety system that determined the Brazilian system is equivalent to that of the U.S. This ruling has sparked concern about exposure of Foot and Mouth (FMD) disease to U.S. livestock as parts of Brazil are affected by FMD. However, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) conducted a risk assessment and ruled that fresh beef can be safely imported to the U.S. from fourteen states in Brazil.

Is there a risk of transmitting FMD in meat products?

Foot and Mouth Disease is a severe, highly contagious disease that affects animals with divided hooves such as cattle, swine and sheep. The primary mode of transmission is when infected animals come into physical contact with susceptible animals. The virus can also persist in the meat of infected animals if the pH remains above 6.0. After slaughter muscle undergoes a conversion to meat during which pH drops from around 7.0 to approximately 5.6. This pH decline is due to the buildup of lactic acid in the muscle tissue during the process of rigor mortis. The acidification of meat would inactivate any FMD virus present in the tissue of infected animals