Food manufacturers and processors in the US and Brazil are once again able to share their beef products with each other. The USDA announced it reached an agreement with Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply in August, reopening each country’s respective markets to fresh and frozen beef exports for the first time since 2003.

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) also recently determined that Brazil’s food safety system governing meat products meets US standards and that fresh (chilled or frozen) beef can be safely imported from Brazil.

Brazil’s action reflects the United States’ negligible risk classification for bovine spongiform encephalopathy by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and aligns Brazil’s regulations to the OIE’s guidelines.