The chief executive of a large Brazilian meatpacking company says the United States is expected to re-open its borders to fresh beef from Brazil in early 2018, reported Reuters. Shipments were shut off in June after USDA inspectors had rejected a worrisome 11 percent of Brazilian beef in a four-month period.
The shutoff occurred in the wake of stepped-up USDA inspection of cargoes instituted because of a meat inspection scandal in Brazil early this year. Meat processors in the country allegedly bribed inspectors to gain approval of suspect meat. Brazil is one of the world’s largest meat exporters.
At an industry conference, Fernando Galletti, the chief executive of Minerva SA, said “the expectation we are hearing from the Agriculture Ministry” was for a resumption of trade in the first quarter of 2018. Reuters said the ministry did not have an immediate comment on Galletti’s remarks. Besides the inspection scandal, another Brazilian company, JBS SA, the world’s largest meat processor, was entangled in a corruption scandal this year, and last week, Russia issued a temporary ban on beef and pork from Brazil.