According to the portal La Nación, Paraguay could lose its main export market, Brazil.
The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture said they are investigating a possible bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow.
The neighboring country indicated that all necessary preventive measures are being taken.
In this regard, La Nación/Nación Media talked to Daniel Burt, Paraguayan Meat Chamber (CPC) manager, about the implications for the national meat sector.
Firstly, Burt said that both Paraguay and the world are awaiting the results of the laboratory tests sent to Canada to confirm or rule out the case (read here the update on the results).
Secondly, he pointed out that given this situation, several speculations can be made about what could happen with Brazil in case China, its main buyer, decides to apply sanctions since it will have to look for other markets, and that is where it would enter to compete with Paraguay.
“We do not know how China will react; we do not know what sanctions it could apply, and for how long, so this remains to be seen. It could be a short, medium, or long time in a certain region or the whole country. So, there are many factors to consider. We must have all the information before being too alarmist,” said Burt.
In this context, he explained that if Brazil is eventually left out of the Chinese market, it will have to look for a place to export.
If they decide to do so in Chile, Burt said this would be a blow to the sector as it is our main market.
However, he clarified: “As long as Chile does not apply the same sanctions as well”.
ABOUT PARAGUAY’S MAIN BUYERS
Regarding Paraguay’s leading buyers, such as Taiwan, Israel, and other destinations, and the decision to wait for Brazil to resolve its situation, Burt said, “if our customers sanction Brazil and do not allow Brazilian meat to enter, they will not compete with us. But we do not know what decisions the countries will take, if it will be uniform or if each one will have different deadlines”.
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Regarding the risk of this disease spreading across borders, he indicated that this occurs in older animals, and because of the danger it represents, Paraguay is ready to safeguard the cattle.
“We are always aware of the protection of our border and animal health because the lack of incidents in animal health in the last 10 years allows us today to have better and larger markets,” said the union representative.
With information from America Retail