February 21, 2001
		Canada and Brazil in Trade Dispute Over Beef Two weeks after the Canadian government banned Brazilian beef because of concerns about mad cow disease, tempers between the two countries are flaring ever more. What began with a local Brazilian radio station banning Canadian Alanis Morissette's music and bar owners making a public show of dumping bottles of Molson beer has escalated to talks of a lawsuit and trade sanctions against Canada. "Brazilians are very serious about their meat," said Luiz Hafers, president of the Brazilian Rural Society, the country's main agricultural trade group. "We started out surprised, shocked and angry. Now we are furious." The Brazilian port workers union has asked for longshoremen to not unload Canadian cargo, and the Brazilian Rural Society has asked its membership to boycott Canadian-produced potassium chloride fertilizer, one of the nation's largest exports. Meanwhile, the local meatpacking industry is exploring the possibility of suing the Canadian government for damages over lost revenue. The Canadian government imposed the ban when it said that the Brazilian government had failed to provide proper documentation that proved that the country's cows were free of mad cow disease. Brazil has the world's largest herd, 160 million head of cattle. According to the rules of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), both the United States and Mexico were required to follow Canada's move. Although NAFTA was responsible for only about ten percent of last year's $800 million in Brazilian beef exports, many are worried about a U.S. ban spurring other countries on. Nafta accounted for only about 10 percent of last year's $800 million in Brazilian beef exports – largely processed corned beef and bouillon – but Brazilians are worried about a possible domino effect, particularly from the United States ban. "The U.S. sets the standard that most other countries go by," said João Beltrame, a livestock analyst at FNP Consultoria, a Brazilian consulting group. "If we don't have a positive response from the United States in the short term, it will seriously impact our exports. We may lose markets that we will never be able to get back." Last week, both Malaysia and Bosnia banned Brazilian beef, following the North American lead. "We want to see a type of judicial measure against Canada that makes it very clear that the government's decision damaged Canadian legislation and international norms and generated a series of constraints among merchants," said Enio Marques, the president of the Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Companies, a group that is behind the effort to file suit against the Canadian government