China authorizes importing from 13 US-based meatpackers, possibly as a message to Brazil

The General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) granted authorization for 13 US-based pork, beef, and poultry meatpackers to export their products.

The authorization went into effect on the 13th. That was the first time in the year that the Chinese government authorized a large number of US companies for export. After the most conflicted relationship with former President Donald Trump, the measure is a positive signal for the current Joe Biden administration.

According to Fernando Iglesias, an analyst at the consultancy Safras & Mercado, China’s decision may be a way of putting pressure on Brazil. He considers the action’s timing to be strange, especially as exports from a few Brazilian plants have been suspended on the grounds that they showed traces of Covid-19 on the packaging of their products.

“This could be a way for the Chinese to pressure Brazilian meatpackers to try to improve their products’ inspection and force a drop in prices for future purchases,” he says.

For Iglesias, the measure sounds even stranger, considering that Brazilian beef is much more competitive at the moment than North American beef.

Since mid-2020, with the worsening of the pandemic, China has changed its meat import scheme and started a series of temporary suspensions of purchases from several countries.

The need to increase health control due to Covid-19 has been the reason unofficially alleged by the Chinese government.

Source: Canal Rural

To read the full original article, please go to:

https://www.canalrural.com.br/noticias/pecuaria/china-habilita-importacao-de-13-frigorificos-dos-eua-medida-pode-ser-recado-ao-brasil/

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