Brazil suspends beef exports to China after discovery of mad cow disease

[Judi Lynn]

ABC Rural / By Warwick Long and Tom Major
Posted 3h ago3 hours ago, updated 1h ago

Brazil has suspended beef exports to China following the discovery of two separate cases of 'atypical' Bovine Spongy Encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease in the country.

Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, confirmed the two cases of the disease in abattoirs in Brazil in two separate states of the country, Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso.

The discovery of mad cow disease is a blow to Brazil and will restrict beef movements around the world.

"It will make the supply of beef around the world very tight as we come into the strongest period of demand for the year globally," meat industry analyst Simon Quilty said.

More:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2021-09-06/brazil-suspends-beef-exports-to-china-after-discovery-of-mad-cow/100436264

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Brazil's twin thugs, owner of the world's largest meat producing company, the Batista Brothers:

New Brazilian Class Action Targets Corrupt JBS in the Name of Democracy

January 14, 2020 OCM Staff

Brazilian class action lawsuit against corrupt meatpacking behemoth JBS lays out the undisputed evidence that through bribing over 1,800 Brazilian politicians, JBS was able to take over U.S. Swift Food, U.S. Smithfield beef group, and Pilgrim’s Pride, launching their takeover of the U.S. meat processing industry and becoming the world’s leading meat processor.

The lawsuit demands JBS restore to the Brazilian public nearly a billion U.S. dollars of its ill-gotten gain.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials have forked over yet another $10.8 million in taxpayer funds to the shady foreign firm. JBS has now received a whopping $100 million+ in taxpayer cash meant for struggling American farmers.



The people of Brazil have taken a stand for justice against corrupt meatpacker JBS and its principal owners, the Batista brothers, by filing legal action in the Brazilian court. A discovery application has also been approved which seeks documents located in the U.S. for use in the legal proceeding in Brazil.

This class action lawsuit, filed on December 20, 2019, comes on the heels of a recent action brought by Brazilian prosecutors evidencing similar claims.

The litigation lays out the undisputed evidence that through bribing over 1,800 Brazilian politicians, the Batista brothers were able to take over U.S. Swift Food, U.S. Smithfield beef group, and Pilgrim’s Pride, launching their takeover of the U.S. meat processing industry and becoming the world’s leading meat processor.

The lawsuit demands the Batista brothers, JBS SA, J&F Investimentos, the Batista family’s holding company, restore to the public nearly a billion U.S. dollars of the Batista family’s ill-gotten gain.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials have forked over yet another $10.8 million in U.S. taxpayer funds to the shady foreign firm. JBS has now received a whopping $100 million+ in taxpayer cash meant for struggling American farmers.

More:
https://competitivemarkets.com/new-brazilian-class-action-targets-corrupt-jbs-in-the-name-of-democracy/

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Trump administration showers Brazilian crooks with $62M bailout money meant for struggling U.S. farmers
By CHRIS SOMMERFELDT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |
MAY 16, 2019 AT 4:20 AM



Joesley and Wesley Batista, owners of Brazil-based meat-packing company JBS SA, are pictured in separate file photos. (AFP/Getty Images)

The Trump administration has forked over more than $62 million — taxpayer cash that was supposed to be earmarked for struggling American farmers — to a massive meatpacking company owned by a couple of corrupt Brazilian brothers.

The Department of Agriculture announced a contract in January to purchase $22.3 million worth of pork from plants operated by JBS USA, a Colorado-based subsidiary of Brazil’s JBS SA, which ranks as the largest meatpacker in the world.

The bailout raised eyebrows from industry insiders at the time, as it was sourced from a $12 billion program meant for American farmers harmed by President Trump’s escalating trade war with China and other countries.

But previously undisclosed purchase reports obtained by the Daily News this week reveal the administration has since issued at least two more bailouts to JBS, even as Trump’s own Justice Department began investigating the meatpacker, whose owners are Joesley and Wesley Batista — two wealthy brothers who have confessed to bribing hundreds of top officials in Brazil.

Both brothers have spent time in jail over the sweeping corruption scandal.

Local prosecutors rescinded the Batistas’ plea deals last year after accusing them of withholding evidence. The seedy brothers aren’t allowed to leave Brazil as their complex cases go to court.

More:
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-trump-administration-bailout-farmers-brazilian-criminals-20190516-6rdb3ithvfec7fttem7qrny54y-story.html

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This foreign meat company got U.S. tax money. Now it wants to conquer America.



President Trump delivers remarks in support of farmers and ranchers at the White House in May. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

By Kimberly Kindy
November 7, 2019

This story has been updated.Two men in cowboy hats stood behind President Trump in May as he announced a $16 billion agricultural bailout. Trump said the financial relief from his trade war with China would help American farmers, reinforcing an earlier tweet when the president said the funds would help “great Patriot Farmers.”

But not all beneficiaries of the taxpayer-funded program are American farmers or patriots. JBS, a Brazilian company that is the largest meat producer in the world, has received $78 million in government pork contracts funded with the bailout funds — more than any other U.S. pork producer.

JBS’s winning hand in securing a quarter of all of the pork bailout contracts is one example of the power a small number of multinational meat companies now hold in the United States. JBS has become a major player in the United States even as it faces price-fixing and other investigations from the federal government.

The company’s explosive growth through acquisitions over the past decade has been a dominant factor in the consolidation of the meat industry by multinational companies.

A dozen years ago, JBS did not own a single U.S. meat plant. Today, JBS and three other food companies control about 85 percent of beef production. JBS and Tyson Foods control about 40 percent of the poultry market. And JBS and three other companies control nearly 70 percent of the pork market.

More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/this-foreign-meat-company-got-us-tax-money-now-it-wants-to-conquer-america/2019/11/04/854836ae-eae5-11e9-9306-47cb0324fd44_story.html