BUENOS AIRES,
Argentina (AP) _ Fresh and frozen Argentine beef exports to the
United States have been suspended temporarily over concerns of
possible foot-and-mouth disease contamination, officials said
Friday. The self-imposed suspension by Argentina, the world"s
fourth-largest beef exporter, was taken as a preventive measure
after cattle bred near the Paraguayan border were believed to
be infected with the disease.
Argentine
Agriculture Secretary Antonio Berhongaray said the decision to
halt exports of fresh, chilled, and frozen beef would not affect
Argentina"s status as a country free of the disease, a designation
bestowed more than a year ago. Speaking with local news agency
Diarios y Noticias, Berhongaray said "no country had modified
its sanitary status" for Argentine beef and emphasized the
move was only precautionary. He did not say when exports might
resume. In Washington, officials in the U.S. Department of Agriculture
said they did not expect Argentina"s would be a long-lasting
measure. "We prefer to think of it as a temporary hold on
imports until we can get the situation clarified," said Anna
Cherry, a spokeswoman in the department"s animal and plant
health inspection service.
The decision
comes after Argentina ordered some 3,000 grass-fed cattle destroyed
earlier this week. Some cattle bred in grasslands close to the
northern border with Paraguay had tested positive for the virus
that causes foot-and-mouth, a disease that usually causes cattle
to stop eating and die. Under trade agreements, Argentina is allowed
to export 20,000 tons of beef to the United States each year.
Senasa President Oscar Bruni is expected to travel to Washington
in the coming days to meet with agriculture officials there.
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