Viviane Rios Balbino
By Joey Aguilar
Staff Reporter
The “imminent” lifting of the ban on Brazilian beef in Saudi Arabia is a good indication that Qatar and other GCC countries may follow suit, Brazilian charge d’affaires Viviane Rios Balbino has said.
Late last year, a high-level delegation from Brazil, including the minister of agriculture and livestock, called on the Saudi Arabia agriculture minister and executive president of Saudi Food and Drugs Authority (SFDA).
The embassy official said both have agreed on the SFDA health certificate for export of meat and meat products to Saudi Arabia and on the additional steps to reopen the Saudi market for Brazilian beef.
“It may be that the GCC authorities are trying to coordinate a unified position towards the ban,” said the embassy official, reiterating that “the meat is absolutely safe.”
“We believe that lifting of the ban in Saudi will pave the way for a GCC-wide reopening of the market.”
In Qatar, the ban was placed in 2013 following the announcement by the Brazilian government of one isolated case of a typical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). It was detected in the brain of an animal that died of other causes.
Balbino noted that despite the World Animal Health Organisation declaring Brazil clear of the disease, some governments at the time decided to take measures to ban Brazilian beef.
The embassy in Doha also provided the needed technical information to Qatari authorities concerned to prove that there is no reason for fear against the quality of Brazilian beef, according to the embassy official.
“We are looking forward to working with Qatar’s Ministry of the Environment and the Supreme Council of Health to provide any additional information about the meat,” she said.
Balbino pointed out that Brazilian beef is internationally recognised for its quality. “Our cattle are grass-fed, therefore the protein in the meat is high. The country is equipped with fully certified halal facilities, which makes Brazil a ready competitor for the regional market.”
“In March 2013, a delegation of specialists from the Brazilian ministry of agriculture and livestock met with officials of Qatar’s Ministry of Environment. They were satisfied that the incident was an isolated one,” said Balbino, adding: “The case in question was of specialists call ‘a typical BSE,’ which is a non-contagious form of the disease. It is not caused by the ingestion of contaminated food, nor does it contaminate the beef and milk from the animal.”
Brazil is also a major exporter of poultry and beef to all GCC countries, it is learnt.
Brazil exported 36,000 tonnes of chicken meat to Qatar from January to October last year amounting to $60mn.
The poultry being offered in most supermarkets in Qatar are from Brazil, holding about 70% of the local market.
