Request was made by the president during a call to the Chinese leader on Monday night, interlocutors say; Previously, the government evaluated the sending of a new letter to the country
The President of the Republic, asked the president of China, that the country will buy Brazilian chicken again, the report found. Brazilian exports of poultry products from all over the national territory have been suspended since May 16, when a case of Avian influenza in Granja Comercial was confirmed in the municipality of Montenegro (RS), as provided for in the bilateral sanitary agreement between the countries. The request for endorsement for the resumption of Brazilian exports was made by Lula during a call to Xi on the night of Monday (11), say interlocutors. Xi would have told Lula that he would seek the resolution of the theme, according to the reports. Lula would have mentioned the subject three times during the connection with the Chinese leader, according to the sources. In a statement released on Monday, the Secretariat of Social Communication (Secom) stated that the connection lasted about an hour and that the presidents talked about “the bilateral strategic partnership” between Brazil and China and “greeted the advances already achieved in synergies between national development programs of both countries”.
Prior to the connection, the government evaluated the sending of a new letter to the Chinese government asking for the release of shipments. Brazil seeks to resume china exports to China after the completion of the case of avian flu and the recovery of the status of a country free from Avian flu in commercial squad, with recognition of the World Animal Health Organization (OMSA) obtained since the end of June. The protocol agreed between Brazil and China predicts that the country stops certifying exports to the Chinese market in case of aviary flu in commercial squad. The recognition of the Brazilian sanitary status and the resumption of exports depend on the validation of the Chinese sanitary authority, as with other countries importing national poultry products.
The Ministry of Agriculture also sent a technical dossier of information to evaluate the General Customs Administration of China (GACC), the health authority of the Asian country, to consequent authorization from the return of exports and refund of the qualification of refrigerators able to export to the country. Prior to temporary suspension, 51 Brazilian refrigerators were qualified to export chicken meat and derivatives to the Asian country.
Last month, GACC requested additional information about the situation of Rio Grande do Sul and measures to prevent aviary influenza from spreading to a questionnaire sent to the Ministry of Agriculture. The answers were forwarded and was expected to conclude the analysis by GACC this month, the report found. China is the main destination of Brazilian chicken, accounting for 13% of Brazilian protein shipments. In 2024, Brazil exported 561 thousand tons of chicken meat to China, generating US $ 1.288 billion in foreign sales.
In June 2023, President Lula made a similar movement to release beef shipments to China. At the time, Lula was personally involved to try to unlock about 40,000 tons of Brazilian meat retained in containers in China, equivalent to $ 2.5 billion. At the time, President Lula also called Xi to request the release of the exported frozen protein and produced before the confirmation of an atypical case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (known as the Mad Cow Mail) on February 23 of that year, when the Asian country temporarily suspended exports of the Brazilian product. The release occurred about 20 days after the connection.
*With information from Estadão Content
Posted by Fernando Dias
