China | China and Brazil Announce Equivalency Agreement but Immediate Trade P...

China

China and Brazil Announce Equivalency Agreement but Immediate Trade Prospects Unclear

China and Brazil have signed an agreement establishing equivalency of the two countries’ sanitary and safety systems, paving the way for legal imports of Brazilian beef, pork, and poultry into China. Chinese agricultural export interests with Brazil include garlic and certain types of aquaculture products. The agreement was signed by the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture and the Director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) in Brasilia on August 9, according to an English press release issued by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Provisioning. The press release states that Brazil will be able to ship poultry and beef from foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)-free states beginning this month (September). Brazil hopes to obtain FMD-free with vaccination status from the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) by 2004. Some traders speculate, however, that despite the equivalency agreement, China will send inspectors to approve individual plants in line with its general quarantine policies. Prior to the agreement, Brazilian red meat and poultry products were banned from China, although large quantities of poultry and pork offal are shipped illegally into Hong Kong.

Export Newsline Archive Click for USMEF Annual Board of Directors Meeting Information and Registration Form; November 6-8, 2002 - Long Beach, California