CHINA and Brazil have officially agreed to end a Chinese embargo on Brazilian beef imports, following discussions during a break in the G20 meetings in Brisbane over the weekend.

China has officially had a ban in effect on Brazilian beef since December 2012 following the detection of an atypical case of BSE in Brazil’s Parana state.

The meeting took place in Brisbane on Sunday morning between Chinese president Xi Jinping and Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff.

President Jinping had first announced an end to his country’s embargo on Brazilian beef in July during a visit to Brazil by leaders of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China, which are all deemed to be at a similar stage of newly advanced economic development), but unresolved bureaucratic steps had held up the process until now.

With the bilateral agreement moving forward, Brazil’s government expects to sell anywhere from A$940 million to A$1.4 billion in beef to China next year. Prior to the atypical BSE case in late 2012, Brazil had exported $44 million worth of in beef to China that year, up from $3m in 2009, the first year the Chinese market opened to Brazil.

The market closure occurred before China’s spectacular growth as an international customer for beef, that launched during 2013.

China is considered Brazil’s main trade partner, with commerce between the two countries worth $98 billion in 2013. China’s imports of beef rose 30 percent in the first half of this year from the same period in 2013.

Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture said earlier this month it expects Saudi Arabia to also reopen its market to Brazilian beef exports soon, possibly in November, following a meeting with lead agriculture and import officials from the country. Saudi Arabia has also maintained a ban on Brazilian beef since the late 2012 BSE case.

Australian exports have benefited greatly in the Middle East in the absence of Brazilian competition, reaching 51,500 tonnes for the calendar year to date.