A week after authorising the first Brazilian plants to export pork, the health authorities of Canada announced the authorisation of two other plants to export the product, as reported by the Ministry of Agriculture to the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA).

With the new qualifications, Brazil now has five producing units authorized to export pork to the Canadian market. The sanitary opening of the market was consolidated in March of this year, after years of negotiations between the authorities of the two countries, as a direct result of the actions of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Brazilian Embassy and the Brazilian agricultural association in Ottawa.

As well as the first three qualifications, the two new qualified plants are located in the state of Santa Catarina. They are units of Pamplona Alimentos, from Presidente Getúlio (SC), and Cooperativa Central Aurora, in Joaçaba (SC).

"With the new qualifications, we hope that Canada will gain relevance in the final result of Brazilian pork exports, increasing the capillarity of this year's shipments with good value-added products, such as belly and rib, in complementarity to local production," said ABPA president Ricardo Santin. "At the same time, sales to Canada are expected to contribute to reducing strong internal pressure on producers, who face production costs at historic levels."

Canada is the third largest global exporter of pork, with 1.5 million tons exported in 2021. At the same time, the country is an important international buyer, with imports of about 250,000 tons recorded over the past year.