US expected to approve Brazil fresh beef imports

Sao Paulo

BRAZIL'S Agriculture Ministry said on Friday that the United States is likely to approve imports of Brazilian fresh beef this year, after President Dilma Rousseff visits Washington in June.

Brazil, the world's top beef exporter, is already a steady exporter of cooked beef that appears in items such as canned corned beef to the US. The Agriculture Ministry said in a statement that the US had promised the first shipments of fresh beef could occur in August. Brazil plans to have "done its part" by the end of May or early June, the ministry said, referring to steps to provide technical data and documentation to the Americans.