The US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service will send its administrator to Brazil on Sept. 17 to visit meat processing plants and learn about the latest advancements in Brazil's animal sanitary controls that could prompt approval for new meat exports to the US.
Alfred Almanza, administrator of the FSIS, will spend next week touring three plants in the Brazilian states of Sao Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul with officials from Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture.
It's the first time the American agency's administrator has come to Brazil, and the move is expected to prompt more technological cooperation agreements between the two sanitation agencies and foster more meat-related trade between the countries, the Ministry of Agriculture said Wednesday.
Brazilian officials are hoping for more watershed approvals from the US like what occurred in January, when the USDA agreed to certify raw pork shipments from Brazil's Santa Catarina state for export to the US. Santa Catarina is the only Brazilian state officially free of foot and mouth disease without vaccination.
The USDA approved Brazilian inspectors as capable of approving pork for US export standards, and while only raw pork can come from one Brazilian state, cooked and canned pork can now be shipped from any, after passing federal inspection.
Source: Argentine Beef Packers S.A.
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