Brazilian beef is again top of mind in the U.S. beef industry after the South American country took over a month to report its lately case of BSE.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says Brazil is not living up to world animal health standards for reporting BSE cases within 24 hours and they are calling for a suspension of imports into the U.S.
“We’ve been very consistent in our request with USDA to suspend their access until a thorough investigation and audit can be conducted,” Kent Bacus with the association says. “This latest atypical BSE case took 35-days to report…it takes us, 24-hours. And Brazil has said, ‘well, we have to ship off some of these samples to other labs to be tested.’ Well, that may be true, but why does it take 35-days?”
Bacus says in one instance, it took Brazil nearly two years to report a case of BSE. It is why he says access to the U.S. beef market is a privilege, not a right.
“They don’t have a right to the U.S. market—it’s a privilege…and if you’re not going to provide an equivalent level of safety and health and be able to back that up through your reputation, then you don’t deserve to be here,” Bacus said.
Story via NAFB
