Authorities in Brazil are growing increasingly concerned over a Chinese ban on Brazilian beef which has lasted more than a month and threatens to decimate exports worth around $4bn per year.
Brasília voluntarily suspended shipments of the protein to China — its largest market — in early September after confirming two cases of “atypical” mad cow disease in separate meat plants across the country.
Many expected Beijing would quickly resume imports after no further signs of the disease were detected in Brazil. The suspension, however, has dragged on for almost six weeks, fuelling growing consternation among Brazilian officials and its large meatpacking companies.