Brazil Aims to Ease Chicken Trade Bans Amid Bird Flu
As the situation continues to unfold, Brazil's agriculture ministry remains vigilant, with ongoing investigations into potential new outbreaks. The country's major chicken exporters, however, remain confident that the crisis will be over soon, and are looking forward to the easing of trade restrictions, which will help to restore Brazil's position as a major player in the global chicken market.
Brazil's agriculture ministry has ruled out bird flu on a commercial farm in Tocantins state, sparking hopes of lifting trade restrictions that have affected the country's chicken exports, with major exporters BRF and Marfrig awaiting antitrust approval for their merger.
The bird flu outbreak, confirmed on May 16, has led to trade embargoes and increased domestic chicken supplies, reducing local prices. However, Brazil's largest chicken exporters, BRF and Marfrig, are confident that the crisis will be over soon, with BRF's vice president, Fabio Stumpf, crediting the control of the outbreak to well-trained farm workers, strict biosecurity protocols, and efficient state and federal agencies.
Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro has also expressed optimism that the outbreak has been controlled, although 12 active investigations into potential new outbreaks are ongoing. The ministry's efforts to contain the outbreak have sparked hopes of easing trade restrictions, which have been in place since the outbreak was confirmed. China, a major importer of Brazilian poultry, has also banned imports from Brazil due to the outbreak.
The lifting of trade restrictions would be a significant boost to Brazil's chicken exports, which have been affected by the outbreak. With the country's major exporters awaiting antitrust approval for their merger, the easing of trade bans would provide a much-needed boost to the industry, and Brazil is hopeful that this will happen in the coming weeks.