SAO PAULO Brazilian food processor BRF will try to get China's approval to resume chicken and pork exports from two of its plants during a Brazilian government mission to the Asian country, two sources close to the matter told Reuters on Friday.
The Brazilian mission to China includes Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro, several representatives of the federal government, members of the agricultural industry and meatpacking representatives.
China is the top destination for Brazilian chicken and pork meat exports. In 2022, the Asian country imported more than 1 million tons of the two proteins, generating more than 2.5 billion dollars in foreign exchange for Brazil.
The two plants are the biggest in Brazil and are located in the mid-west.
In the year 2021, China suspended pork sales from one of the plants, a poultry and pork processor in Lucas do Rio Verde.
Poultry shipments to China from Lucas do Rio Verde plant were suspended in March of last year.
Questions from Chinese health authorities have already been answered and now there is a decision from the Chinese one of the sources said.
BRF did not say anything about the possible resumptions.
The company has received approval from China's General Administration of Customs GACC to resume sales of chicken meat to China from its Marau plant in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. Exports from the plant to China had been suspended since 2021.
Chinese approval for Marau followed four other authorizations for Brazilian beef slaughterhouses - the first new clearances since 2019.
Brazil's agriculture ministry said on Thursday that other companies have small pending issues with GACC, which should still be resolved during the ministry's trip to China, without naming the companies that could be benefited.