Indonesia's govt lifts ban on Brazil beef import

• Source: Xinhua
• [16:38 September 02 2009]
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Indonesia's government on Tuesday lifted a five-year ban on imported beef from Brazil after Indonesian inspectors cleared slaughterhouses in the country as free from foot and mouth disease, the Jakarta Globe daily quoted an official at the Ministry of Agriculture as saying on Wednesday.

"We already have approved five slaughterhouses in Brazil and given them licenses to supply imported beef to Indonesia," said Tjeppy Sudjana, the ministry's director general of livestock.

However, Tjeppy said that importers could only ship beef from the selected abattoirs in Brazil. The slaughterhouses are located in Brazilian states of Sao Paulo, Goias, Mato Grosso do Sul, Para and Rondoia.

Tjeppy stressed that the government had set quotas for importers to send beef from Brazil, saying that the amount depended on the importers.

"It depends on traders' calculations. If they want to import more beef, then we'll grant them a license to do so," he said.

Brazil, with 240 million heads of cattle, exports its beef to more than 180 countries. Indonesia imports about 10 million cattle.