Brazil worried by Russia's ban on Brazilian meat imports

A delegation of Brazil's agriculture ministry is leaving for Moscow on Saturday to discuss the resumption of meat exports to Russia which were suspended over an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Brazil's northern state of Para.

When in Moscow, the Brazilian governmental delegation led by Lenneu Carlos da Costa Lima, Secretary of Production and Commercialisation at the Ministry of Agriculture, is expected to meet Russian First Deputy Agriculture Minister Sergei Dankvert, according the Brazilian ministry's press service. Russian Agriculture Minister Aleksei Gordeyev is currently on a working visit to New Zealand.

Mr. Costa Lima said the Russian government had requested the Brazilian authorities to elaborate on the outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease in Para.

Russia is a major importer of Brazilian made beef and pork meat that are supplied mainly by the southern state of Santa Catarina, according to the Brazilian official.

Mr. Costa Lima said they wanted to settle the issue promptly as Santa Catarina, the major supplier of meat to Russia, is located 3,500 km from Para. He believes there are no grounds for imposing an embargo on meat imports