It is not for us (WAV) to declare what is wrong or what is right. We simply gather evidence from a variety of different valid sources, and then present it to you; our friends and fellow campaigners; with the hope that you will have more information with which to make choices about issues.
We also provide historical information on some issues; which you may be able to use during some of ‘those’ discussions that we have all experienced at different times. Remember; information is knowledge; and as President Harry S Truman once said:
“I never gave anybody hell, I just told the truth and they thought it was hell”
This has also been my animal policy for a long time; and so far; having never had any legal problems acting against me; I am quite happy that just telling the truth and exposing the ‘hells’ for animals is the correct way to approach it.
We try to provide information; but the final actions and choices remain with others as well;
We wish to inform that according to info below; the US Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) audit team inspected only eight of the 28 plants. So, is a policy of inspecting just 8 of 28 facilities a guarantee that there is still no corruption going on ? – you decide. Why not inspect 20 out of 28 ?, or even all of them ? – after all; is it not ensuring the health of US beef eating citizens that needs to protected ?
Regards Mark.
25th February 2020.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA FSIS) has announced that previously banned beef products from Brazil will now be approved for export to the U.S.
Upon completion of an audit of Brazil’s inspection system for beef slaughter and further processing, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service determined that raw intact beef from Brazil IS eligible for export to the U.S. from cattle slaughtered on and after February 21, 2020, the date that the Department lifted the suspension. However, raw intact beef products derived from cattle slaughtered in Brazil and certified as slaughtered before February 21, 2020, are not eligible for entry into the United States.
In early 2017, Brazil’s meat safety practices came under fire when inspectors were accused of taking bribes to allow the sale of expired, Salmonella-tainted meat. At the time, reports indicated that police found meat that had been treated with water and manioc flour in an effort to disguise the spoiled meat’s discoloration and foul odor. As a result, Brazil’s meat products were temporarily banned in Chile, the EU, and South Korea. Initially, beef imports from Brazil were still allowed into the U.S. because it was believed at the time that food safety checks and balances were strong enough to weed out and detect any problems like contamination.
Two months later, in June 2017, USDA suspended imports of all raw intact beef from Brazil due to “recurring concerns about safety of the products intended for the American market,” Specific concerns were centred around “public health concerns, sanitary conditions, and animal health issues.”
Nearly 2 years passed before the U.S. announced plans to audit Brazil’s beef and pork inspections. The audit was meant to verify that Brazil’s products meet American sanitation requirements.
Brazil is one of the world’s largest exporters of beef. In August 2016, the U.S. finally began allowing beef imports from Brazil after a 13-year ban due to multiple complications with foreign beef producers.
https://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/news/us-welcomes-imports-of-previously-banned-brazilian-beef/
U.S. market is again open to raw intact beef from Brazil
By Dan Flynn on February 25, 2020
Raw intact beef from Brazil is again eligible for export to the United States beginning with cattle slaughtered on or after Feb. 21, 2020.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue had suspended all imports of fresh beef from Brazil because of “recurring concerns about the safety of the products intended for the American market.”
That USDA ban on Brazilian raw intact beef was imposed on June 22, 2017, and was ultimately USDA’s answer to the widespread bribery of Brazilian meat inspectors. That scandal put Brazilian food safety checks in doubt.
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) sent its auditors to Brazil June 10-28, 2019, and again just last month, Jan. 13-24, 2020.
The most recent visit was to verify that Brazil’s “central competent authority” took corrective actions regarding the 2019 audit findings. It was also to determine whether Brazil’s food safety inspection system is governing raw and processed meat equivalent to that of the United States, with the ability to export products that are safe, wholesome, unadulterated, and correctly labeled and packaged.”
The FSIS audit confirmed that Brazil had fully implemented the corrective actions from the prior audit findings. The FSIS audit team inspected eight of the 28 plants that may now export fresh, intact beef to the U.S.
The inspections confirmed the application of written guidelines that prescribe the body temperature at which livestock are to be condemned during antemortem inspection; and the implementation of post-mortem inspection procedures, which ensure that only wholesome carcasses, free of contamination and defects, receive the mark of inspection signifying approval.
Also, the FSIS auditors confirmed Brazil’s control of specified risk materials (SRM) and the verification of proper operation and maintenance of retorts.
During the raw intact beef ban, Brazil was able to export processed beef and pork and raw intact pork to the United States. With $7.3 billion in fresh and processed beef exports last year, Brazil is happy to see the end of the ban.
Brazilian Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias announced the U.S. market was opening on Friday in Brasilia. The USDA confirmed it on Monday in a short FSIS Notice.
In the weeks prior to the beginning of the USDA ban, Brazilian Police charged 63 people in a corruption scheme that involved the country’s Ministry of Agriculture. Federal auditors at meat processing facilities were accused of having taken bribes for years in exchange for fraudulent sanitary permits.
The scheme reportedly also included selling spoiled meat and injecting water into poultry in order to sell it at high prices. Police also found chemical ingredients being used to make rotting meat spell better.
At the time, the U.S. had only been accepting fresh beef from Brazil since 2016 and the volume was small. None of the plants targeted by Brazilian police had shipped meat to the U.S.
Last October, Brazil’s BRF SA admitted to bribing food inspectors with cash and health benefits. This included payments of nearly $5 million through 2017. BRF SA reached a “leniency agreement” with the government. The European Union banned 12 BRF SA plants from selling in its member countries.
Police also said 39 of the 60 bribed inspectors remained on the job. About 2,500 food inspectors are employed by the Agriculture Ministry.
Before the USDA ban on Brazilian beef, FSIS was reinspecting all Brazilian meat entering the U.S.
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2020/02/u-s-market-is-again-open-to-raw-intact-beef-from-brazil/
More Information:
The United States is the largest producer of beef in the world followed by Brazil & the European Union. The United States, Brazil and the European Union produce roughly 47% of the world’s beef. The United States produces nearly 20% of the world’s beef.
According to records from the USDA Economic Research Service, the U.S. imported 140.9 million pounds of beef from Brazil last year. … The most recent data shows imports of beef from Brazil in January 2019 were up 39 percent by volume compared to January 2018 (11.5 million pounds vs. 8.3 million pounds, respectively).29 Mar 2019
Approximately 80 percent of beef produced in Brazil is consumed domestically. Almost 50 percent of export volumes head to China, where demand for Brazilian beef rose by 50 percent last year. In 2016, the last full year before the ban was imposed, the United States imported roughly 70,000 tons of beef from Brazil.4 Apr 2019
Reuters 2017
https://it.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN19D2VE
