Brasília, 1/6/2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Investments in marketing and food safety is the way to go if Brazil is fill the void in international beef markets following the mad-cow scare in the US. That was the conclusion reached at a meeting of cattlemen, beef exporters and representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture which took place yesterday. The goal is to move into the US, Korean and Japanese markets.

However, some Brazilian analysts warn that the result of the problem in the US may be a consumer rejection of beef and a mass movement to white meats, such as pork and poultry.

As a result of yesterday's meeting three work groups were set up to study sanitation and trade agreements, marketing strategies based on the fact that Brazil is free of mad cow disease and its beef is risk-free to consumers, and further improvements in animal sanitation measures, including tracking, to prevent the occurrence of mad-cow disease in Brazil.

According to the minister of Agriculture, Roberto Rodrigues, this is a moment when the government has to be part of the solution, not a problem. He announced an additional R$60 million for animal sanitation measures, besides the R$68 million already budgeted, and said foreign demand for Brazilian beef could be up as much as 15% this year.

Antonio Camardelli, the president of the Brazilian beef exporter assiciation was more cautious and refused to be precise about an export increase. "We have good cattle, our strong selling point is that our beef is 'green beef' [this is a reference to the fact that most Brazilian cattle is raised in the pasture], but it is too early to say how much more we can sell abroad," he declared.

According to Antenor Nogueira, president of the country's cattle association (CNA), the first step to increasing exports is to overcome American sanitation barriers on Brazilian beef. "Markets in China and Japan use the same standards that the Americans use," he points out.

Brazil's big problem with foreign markets is not mad cow disease, but foot and mouth disease, which the country has finally eliminated. "Recent visits by American inspectors should result in interrnational recognition of that fact and the opening of the US market by 2005," says Nogueira.

Brazil exported 1.2 million tons of beef in 2003, worth US$1.5 billion. Most of the exported beef went to Europe, in natura. (AB)