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USDA Suspends All Imports of Fresh Beef From Brazil

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on June 22 announced a halt to all imports of fresh beef from Brazil due to “recurring concerns” over food safety and other issues, the Agriculture Department said (here). USDA has been examining all shipments of…

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Brazilian meat products since March, and has refused entry to 11 percent of Brazilian fresh beef shipments, which is “substantially higher than the rejection rate of one percent of shipments from the rest of the world,” it said. Reasons for the rejections include “public health concerns, sanitary conditions, and animal health issues,” USDA said. “The Brazilian government had pledged to address those concerns, including by self-suspending five facilities from shipping beef to the United States. Today’s action to suspend all fresh beef shipments from Brazil supersedes the self-suspension,” it said. “The suspension of shipments will remain in place until the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture takes corrective action which the USDA finds satisfactory.”