Japan is “very close” to opening its market to Brazilian beef, according to the South American country’s agriculture minister, in a move that would be a further blow to U.S. exports.
“It’s moving fast,” Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro told Bloomberg News in Malaysia on Monday. “Something that’s been on hold for more than 25 years is now very close to happening, just a few details remain.”
The Japanese market is high income and very lucrative, but also highly demanding, said Favaro. One of the requirements was that Brazil be declared free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination, a certification it obtained earlier this year.
Favaro said Brazil is in the final stage of the sanitary protocol and that “once it’s completed, the market will open,” which he expects to happen by the end of the year.
Brazil is the world’s largest beef exporter, while Japan is a major global importer that so far has relied mostly on supplies from the U.S. and Australia. The deal means additional demand for Brazil’s beef just as sales to the U.S. have dropped following tariffs of 50 percent imposed by the Trump administration.
A move to allow Brazilian beef into Japan would also put rival shipments from the U.S. at risk, just as America is dealing with a severe shortage of cattle. That’s sent live cattle futures to unprecedented levels this year, and wiped out billions of dollars of profits for U.S. meatpackers.
Favaro’s comments follow visits by Japanese officials this year to inspect animal conditions in Brazil. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva became directly involved in the negotiations to access the Japanese market in March, during his visit to Japan. “Brazil is ready,” Lula said at the time.
“It would be great for Brazil because Japan is a premium market — to Japan one can export prime beef cuts,” Gilberto Tomazoni, chief executive officer of meat supplier JBS NV, said Monday on the sidelines of a conference in Sao Paulo. Still, he cautioned that it could take time before sales to Japan pick up, as that market demands high quality products and it typically takes time to build those commercial relationships.
Also, the negotiations between Brazil and Japan were carried out under the previous Japanese administration. With a new government now in place in Tokyo, Brazil will have to resume the dialogue with the incoming leadership.
Since Lula began his third term in 2023, 466 new markets have been opened for Brazilian products, according to the Agriculture Ministry. Speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, Lula said he hopes that number will reach 500 by the end of his term in late 2026.
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