Mexico to allow importation of Brazilian beef amid inflationary pressures

MEXICO – Mexico is set to allow beef imports from Brazil for the first time as it looks to diversify its food supply at a time when the country is facing high inflation.

The country’s inflation rate was recorded at more than 8% in January 2023.

A statement released by the government read, “The importation of meat from Brazil is part of the measures taken to facilitate international food trade and thus diversify the sources of meat supply.

This thereby contributes to strengthening the Mexican government’s policy against inflation and the high cost of basic basket products, in favour of the Mexican population.”

Last week, the president of Mexico, Lopez Obrador, said he had talked with a number of regional counterparts to launch a joint anti-inflation plan, which would include eliminating some tariffs and other trade measures.

Santa Catrina, a southern Brazilian state, will start exporting fresh, chilled and frozen bone-in meat to Mexico while 14 other states, that harbour major meat producers such as Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, will export aged and boneless cuts.

Cases of cattle diseases in Brazil

The move has however been criticized by local producers in Mexico who raised concerns about health risks as many Brazilian states still vaccinate herds against highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease and mad-cow disease.

The National Agri-Food Health, Safety and Quality Service, Senasica, has therefore established a set of health requirements for the meat exports.

However, the Santa Catarina state has long been recognized as clear of these diseases without vaccination by the World Health Organisation.

Senasica also disclosed that Brazil retained a negligible risk status for the mad cow disease specifically and although a single case had been detected in Brazil last month, Senasica termed it “atypical”, concluding that the disease poses an insignificant risk.

According to the experts from the General Directorate of Animal Health, to eliminate any health risk related to foot-and-mouth disease, the producers of these 14 entities will only export matured meat to Mexico.

The same requirement was recently imposed on Argentina and Uruguay, from where Mexico has imported meat for 17 years, without any sanitary problems.

In order to authorize the entry of Brazilian beef into the country, Senasica also considered the transparency with which the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture handled the suspicion of a case of mad cow disease reported last month.

The board also commended the robustness shown by Brazilian Veterinary Services in detecting the case, which was quick and the appropriate security measures were adopted in a timely manner.

Brazil is one of the largest beef exporters in the world having exported €12.34 billion (US$13.9B) worth of beef in 2022, a 42% increase compared to the amount exported in 2021.

Minerva, a brazil-headquartered beef exporter, has had 6 plants confirmed for exports to Mexico, with a capacity to slaughter 7000 animals per day.

It said in a statement, “With 130 million inhabitants, Mexico stands out as one of the main beef markets in the world. In 2022, Mexico was responsible for importing approximately 108,000 tonnes of beef, with the United States and Canada responsible for almost all of this supply.”

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