APHIS Extends Comment Period on Proposal to Allow Beef Imports From Brazil

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is allowing more time for public comments proposal to allow beef imports from certain regions in Brazil. The proposed rule, issued Dec. 23, would allow beef imports from the states of Bahia, Distrito Federal, Espirito Santo, Goias, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Rondonia, Sao Paulo, Sergipe, and Tocantins (see 13122023). The beef would be subject to the same requirements currently in place for imports of beef and bovine meat from Uruguay, including that foot-and-mouth disease hasn’t been diagnosed in the exporting region of Brazil within the previous 12 months, and that the beef comes from bovines from premises where foot-and-mouth disease hasn’t been present during their lifetime. Comments are now due April 22.