Valtemir Rodrigues
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - Four months after cases of hoof and mouth disease were detected in the states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Paraná, the Ministry of Agriculture informed that, between October and December, the country earned US$ 150 million less than over the same period in 2004. However, the Ministry considers the biggest damage to have been the dampening of export growth, which faltered from 30% to 5%. So far 56 countries have suspended purchases of Brazilian meat.

According to Odilson Ribeiro, director of the Ministry's Department of Sanitary Affairs, the situation is improving, and some countries, such as Argentina and Uruguay, have already started to buy Brazilian meat again. "The impact of the hoof and mouth outbreak was very small. Nowadays the large export packing plants have connections that allow them to shift their export production," he informed.

Ribeiro said that there were even motives for Brazil to rejoice, such as the fact it sold meat to more than 150 countries. He observed that, as yet, new outbreaks have not appeared, and, if this situation persists, Brazil will be able to proclaim itself rid of the disease in two months. "After six months a region where animals were sacrificed and new outbreaks have not occurred can get back its accreditation, and we believe that the large majority of countries will resume their purchases of Brazilian meat without as many restrictions as there are now."

For the executive director of the Brazilian Association of Meat Export Industries (ABIEC), Antônio Jorge Camardelli, despite the embargo, Brazil remained in first place in the ranking of meat exporting countries. "With more than 200 million head of cattle, state-of-the-art genetics, and over 80 million hectares of tillable soil, Brazil is presently the world's most competitive country, to the point where it produces a kilogram of meat for US$ 0.90, and it will continue to be for the next 30 to 40 years," he remarked.

According to the ABIEC, last year's export volume amounted to around 2.3 million tons and was worth approximately US$ 3.14 billion. The volume was 18% greater than in 2004. Russia and Egypt were the biggest markets for Brazilian meat. The government expects exports to increase 10-15% this year in relation to 2005.

Translation: David Silberstein