Japan resumes poultry imports from Brazil
Favaro-led delegation convinces Japanese health authorities
Japan has resumed imports of live poultry and meat, eggs and poultry products after it halted imports of live poultry and meat, eggs and poultry products in June, following an agreement signed with Brazilian authorities late last month. A poultry farm in the city of Serra, in the metropolitan area of Victoria, the capital of Espirito Santo state, according to the Brazilian news agency.
In July, Asian countries agreed to adjust the agreement to suspend imports due to the outbreak of bird flu. For subsistence birds — which are raised to produce meat and eggs for household consumption only — the limit applies only to the city where the disease outbreak occurred, not the entire state.
The new protocol came into force after a trade and business mission led by Brazil’s Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro discussed the issue with Japanese health authorities.
Japan has not yet resumed poultry imports from Santa Catarina state, where a case of bird flu was reported on 15 July in the city of Malakaja. The decision affects exports from Brazil, as the state is the country’s second-largest chicken exporter after Paraná. As far as the state of Espirito Santo is concerned, the presence of bird flu has not affected the Brazilian market because the state does not sell to Japan.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Brazilian commercial poultry remains free of avian influenza. The South American country is the world’s largest chicken exporter, accounting for 35% of the world market. From January to June this year, a total of 2.629 million tons were exported, of which 219,800 tons were exported to Japan.
(Source: Brazilian Agency)