US meat processors urge Brazilian compliance with USDA import conditions
The US meat industry body WHAMM (Western Hemisphere Association of Meat Marketers) has called upon its Brazilian counterpart, ABIEC, to comply with the conditions attached to the US government’s lifting of its processed meat import ban, in February.
The appeal was made as the USDA has yet to receive any of the traceback information that was a requirement of the ban being lifted. The following is the full text of the letter sent to ABIEC last week.
From: WESTERN HEMISPHERE ASSOCIATION OF MEAT MARKETERS, 280 Woodland Drive, Park City, UTAH 84098
To: ABIEC, Av. Brigadeiro Farina Lima, 1912, 10 andar, Conjunto 10E, Edf. CAL CENTER II, Sao Paulo, SP 01452, BRAZIL
May 29, 2001
Sirs,
We have previously contacted you regarding our concerns about the potential for BSE in Brazil and the resultant temporary ban on meat exports in February of this year. That ban was conditionally lifted after information was provided to our regulatory agencies. We understand that the conditions included providing additional data on imported live animals, ruminant feeding bans and traceback among others. To our knowledge this additional information has yet to be provided to our regulatory agencies.
In view of the importance of the meat industry to Brazil and the concern of our members about the continued availability of Brazilian meat imports, we respectfully urge that ABIEC take firm and immediate action to see that the necessary information is provided. We have also proposed that ABIEC contract with Dr. John Blackwell to assist in reviewing the data and proposing additional measures to prevent any future disruption to the trade. Again, we respectfully request that ABIEC act on this recommendation.
Our members stand ready to assist in any appropriate manner on these issues.
sincerely yours,
Matthew Maniace, President, WHAMM
