Ban on US beef imports lifted

RIYADH – The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has lifted the temporary ban on import of beef and its products from the United States and Poland as well as beef and mutton imports from Spain. The Kingdom earlier imposed a ban on import of beef products from many Western countries following the outbreak of mad cow disease. According to a Royal Decree issued last year, SFDA was entrusted to lift the ban on import of beef in line with the terms and conditions set by the authority for the same. Accordingly, SFDA and the US Ministry of Agriculture held a series of negotiations that led to the lifting of the ban The lifting of the ban may lead to a fall in prices of beef products in the Kingdom. During last December, the Kingdom lifted the ban for import of beef from Brazil that had been in force for three years.