A Brazilian Ag Ministry official says he’s 100 percent confident the U.S. will reopen its market to Brazilian beef. R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard says that’s very concerning as Brazil recently tried to export some tainted beef overseas.

He says there remains several food safety concerns with any product from Brazil due to its poor health standards

Bullard says Brazil needs to greatly upgrade its health and safety standards before any resumption of trade with them is allowed.

As recently as October the U.S. informed Brazil it would keep the ban on fresh beef imports in place.