Brazil in talks for beef shipments to Japan in threat to U.S.
The world's top beef exporter Brazil is in advanced talks to begin shipments to Japan, according to a major industry group, in a move that may hurt U.S. sales to the Asian nation.
Brazil has provided Japan with information about its production system and shipments for two decades, and now the industry is optimistic that the world's third-biggest importer of the meat will finally open up its market, according to Roberto Perosa, who formerly served in the country's agriculture ministry and is the current president of the Brazilian Association of Beef Exporters.
"There are no longer any sanitary issues in Brazil,' Perosa said in an interview. Japan had previously questioned Brazil's controls over diseases like foot and mouth. "We now have political momentum' after the visit of Japan's agriculture minister Taku Eto to the country last year, he added.
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