Brasília, May 28, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Yesterday (27), the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply (Mapa) suspended, for an indeterminate period, imports from Canada of cattle and cattle products and sub-products, as a result of the occurrence of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), the so-called "mad cow disease."

To preserve the domestic cattle patrimony, the Mapa included in this ban products such as beef, viscera, embryoes, blood derivatives, meal composed of blood, meat, and autoclaved bones, residues from butcher shops and slaughter houses, poultry viscera, and ingredients or raw materials containing the viscera of animals fed with the protein or fat of ruminants. Products such as semen, milk and dairy products, collagen obtained from hides, and oxidized bone meal are not included in the ban.

Between 1997 and April, 2003, Brazil imported US$ 3.2 million in pure-blooded stud cattle from Canada. (DAS)