In stern terms, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told his Brazilian counterpart that beef trade between the nations hinges on prompt reporting of cattle diseases, especially mad cow disease. Earlier this year, Brazil reported two cases of atypical mad cow disease two months after they occurred, while most nations report the findings within days.
“Timely reporting is critically important to maintaining trade between our countries,” Vilsack wrote in a letter to Agriculture Minister Carlos Fávaro. Brazil has improved the timeliness of its investigations and reports but continues to lag significantly behind other major beef exporting nations, he said. Without speedy notification, the United States would be handicapped in protecting its food supply if cases of classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy — mad cow — were found in Brazil.
“It is for this reason that I urge Brazil in the strongest terms, to continue its progress in streamlining timely animal disease reporting,” wrote Vilsack, later adding. “I propose a call between us to further discuss this matter.” Vilsack reiterated a USDA offer to help Brazil in performing tests for mad cow or foot-and-mouth disease.
The United States opened its market to imports of fresh beef from Brazil in 2016. “For the United States, continued confidence in Brazil’s animal disease surveillance, testing, and reporting systems is paramount for our continued trading relationship,” said Vilsack.
Vilsack posted on social media a copy of the letter to the Brazilian agriculture minister.
Mad cow disease, formally bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a fatal disease caused by malformed proteins called prions and found mainly in older cattle. Humans can acquire the disease by eating diseased meat products. Atypical BSE occurs spontaneously in an animal. Classical BSE is believed to be caused by contaminated feed that contains the prion agent. When BSE is detected, agriculture officials search for herdmates in case they are infected.
The activist U.S. Cattlemen’s Association applauded Vilsack’s letter and said beef imports from Brazil should be halted for reasons that include deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.