Few major achievements are expected during a fence-mending visit by Brazil president Dilma Rousseff to the United States this week, including a bilateral meeting with President Obama on Tuesday, says McClatchy. The visit is likely to rejuvenate U.S.-Brazil relations that were strained by the disclosure two years ago that the National Security Agency spied on Rousseff. McClatchy quotes a think-tank leader as saying, “This visit is heavy on optics and atmospherics and putting behind the [Edward] Snowden affair.”
“The issues are long-standing ones. They include improving access to the U.S. market for Brazilian beef producers and easing the visa process for Brazilians,” said McClatchy.
Rousseff’s visit could coincide with an end to U.S. restrictions on imports of fresh beef from Brazil, DTN reported earlier this month. At present, Brazil can ship only cooked beef to the United States as a precaution against foot-and-mouth disease. The USDA has given tentative signs that Brazil’s safeguards are strong enough to allow fresh beef, said DTN, which cites an estimate that Brazil could become one of the 10 largest U.S. suppliers.
The consumer group Food and Water Watch says proposed regulations allowing imports of fresh beef from Argentina and Brazil have been under White House review since May 22. It says the two nations “have a checkered food-safety history with the meat products they are already eligible to export to the United States.”