Brazil Halts Beef Exports to China After Confirming Mad Cow Case

China is the main destination of Brazilian beef, accounting for almost 60% of the nation’s exports last month. Photo: Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Brazil, the world’s biggest beef exporter, is halting exports of the red meat to China starting on Thursday after confirming a case of the animal illness known as mad cow disease.

The case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was confirmed by Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday, and shipments to China were halted as part of a trade protocol between the nations. Brazilian authorities will be holding conversations with Chinese counterparts in a bid for a “prompt re-establishment” of the trade flows, the ministry said in a statement.