ANALYSIS OF THE SANITARY REGULATIONS FOR THE IMPORTATION
OF BRAZILIAN MEAT INTO THE UNITED STATES

COMMUNICATION FROM NICARAGUA

The following communication, dated 3 April 2014, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Nicaragua.

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1.   In its animal health management system, the United States has placed great emphasis on maintaining biosecurity through prevention. One means of fulfilling this precept is by keeping out any possible risk of acquiring foot and mouth disease (FMD) by prohibiting imports of bovine animals and meat products from countries where FMD exists.

2.   On this basis, United States policy has been to permit imports of bovine meat only from countries listed by the OIE as FMD free without use of vaccination, or from countries declared to be wholly (at national level) FMD free with vaccination. There is only one country in the world in this category, namely Uruguay, from which fresh or frozen bovine meat can be imported to the United States.

3.   In Brazil, the OIE recognizes only the state of Santa Catarina as being FMD free without vaccination. There are also five separate zones declared by the OIE as being free of the disease with vaccination. It is a fact that all the northern zone of Brazil is not FMD free, as may be seen from the OIE map for 2013 (official status of FMD in South America).

4.   The disease does not follow borders nor does it respect them, especially when it exists inside a country's borders as in the case of Brazil, which also has borders with other South American countries where FMD is prevalent.