Brazilian beef to arrive at Port of Philadelphia

The Port of Philadelphia on Friday is scheduled to receive the first loads of Brazilian beef to the United States in decades.    The first loads of Brazilian beef to the United States in decades are expected to arrive at the Port of Philadelphia on Friday, the port authority said in a statement.
   The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has recently determined that fresh Brazilian beef, either chilled or frozen, now meets U.S. quality and safety standards and may be sold in the U.S. market.
   The inaugural cargo will be discharged from the Hamburg Sud containership Monte Aconcagua at the Port of Philadelphia’s Packer Avenue Marine Terminal. The owner of the cargo is JBS Imports.
   Ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting shows the Monte Aconcagua serves on Hamburg Sud and Hapag-Lloyd’s jointly operated TANGO/SEC loop, which operates between the U.S. East Coast, Brazil and Argentina with seven vessels averaging 5,685 TEUs.
   In early August, the USDA also reached an agreement with Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply to allow access for U.S. beef and beef products to the Brazilian market for the first time since 2003.
   Brazil’s action reflects the United States’ “negligible risk” classification for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or “mad cow” disease, by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and aligns Brazil’s regulations to the OIE’s international animal health guidelines, the USDA said.