By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Editor

Progress needs to be made before the United States will lift its ban on imports of fresh meat from Brazil, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said.

Earlier this week, Perdue met with Brazilian Minister of Agriculture Blairo Maggi in Washington, D.C. to discuss the ban.

Reuters reports Maggi pressed for a timeline to lift the ban, but was unsuccessful.

Following the meeting, he posted on Twitter the decision was made to wait.

“There is no objection to U.S. policy,” he tweeted in Portuguese. “Got a commitment that the reopening of the market for Brazil will be made as soon as possible.”

He later tweeted a photo Perdue shared from the meeting with both men smiling.

“Meeting with my Brazilian counterpart Blairo Maggi about problems with their beef exports,” Perdue tweeted. “Open dialogue is good, but we need to see progress.”

During the meeting Monday, Brazilian food inspectors reportedly protested by slowing inspections.

Reuters reports the union decried a shortage of inspectors, demanding the government hire more. The inspectors also took issue with the temporary hiring of veterinarians to handle emergency meat inspections.

If their demands are not met, the union will reportedly protect again next week, according to Reuters.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the suspension of all imports of fresh beef from Brazil June 22 due to “recurring concerns about the safety of products intended for the American market.”

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) began inspecting all meat imports from Brazil in March. From that point until June 22, FSIS denied entry to 11 percent, or 1.9 million pounds, of fresh beef imports from Brazil due to public health concerns, sanitary conditions and animal health issues.

None of the rejected lots entered the U.S. market.

Eleven percent is substantially higher than the rejection rate of imports from the rest of the world, USDA reports, which is about one percent.

“Ensuring the safety of our nation’s food supply is one of our critical missions, and it’s one we undertake with great seriousness,” Perdue said at the time. “Although international trade is an important part of what we do at USDA, and Brazil has long been one of our partners, my first priority is to protect American consumers. That’s what we’ve done by halting the import of Brazilian fresh beef. I commend the work of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service for painstakingly safeguarding the food we serve our families.”

The United States is the ninth largest market for Brazilian beef.

In March, Brazilian officials also began investigating allegations that producers bribed government inspectors to approve the sale of meat, even if it was unfit for market.

China, Mexico, Chile, Japan, Hong Kong and the European Union all banned beef imports from Brazil after the allegations came to light.

Maggi reports Brazilian officials are taking corrective actions.