Argentina has just announced that it would resume importing boneless pork and other pork products from the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the southernmost part of Brazil.
The Brazilian state secretary of Agriculture and Supply, Odacir Klein, received this information from the director of Animal Health in the Argentinean Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply, Jorge Horácio Dillon.
The embargo had been in effect since the end of last year, when outbreaks of hoof and mouth disease were detected in the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Paraná.
According to an official letter from Argentina to Brazil, the resumption of imports is the "result of negotiations by the state government and the private sector, thus reestablishing the important neighboring market."
The document goes on to say that, 60 days after the first official intervention in Paraná, without the occurrence of "other health incidents," the risks of infection in Rio Grande do Sul have diminished.
In 2005 the Argentinean market purchased 7.63 thousand tons of pork products, worth US$ 14.59 million, from packing plants in Rio Grande do Sul.
In Klein’s assessment, the Argentinean decision should facilitate the resumption of imports by Chile and Russia. On Monday (23), the secretary will accompany a mission from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply to Moscow and Santiago to discuss the resumption of pork sales to these countries.
Agência Brasil