Business

Editor: Sharon Li
10 Sep 2008 07:35:04 GMT

SAO PAULO –The Brazilian government has decided to restart processed beef exports to the U.S., the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture said in a press release late Tuesday.

The Brazilian government in August halted its own exports of processed beef products, such as beef jerky, to the U.S., after U.S. health inspectors found several meatpacking plants didn’t meet global certification standards during recent annual inspections.

After U.S. health inspectors recently visited Brazilian meatpackers, the U.S. authorities said that the plants had reached a satisfactory standard.

The U.S. can immediately start buying processed beef from 21 Brazilian meatpackers, the press release said.

The Brazilian Beef Exporters Association, or Abiec, said 62,500 metric tons of processed beef was exported by Brazil to the U.S. in 2007.

Brazil is the world’s largest beef exporter.

-By Tony Danby, Dow Jones Newswires; 5511-2847-4541; brazil@dowjones.com