Mexico suspends meat imports from Brazil
22/03/2017
The controversy came to light on March 17 after police raided 21 meat factories in different parts of Brazil and made a number of arrests in connection with alleged bribery of members of the meat inspection service.
China and the European Union quickly said they would import no more meat from Brazil until any risk that unsuitable meat came into the food supply chain is shown to be false. Mexico has now followed suit.
On March 21, the agriculture ministry in Mexico City issued a statement saying no imports of Brazilian beef, pork or chicken will be allowed into the country pending investigations. It explained that it has asked its counterparts in Brazil to submit to it data from inspections of meat in 2016 and 2017. Specifically, the Mexican government wants to know the results of tests for salmonella, e.coli and listeria.
No case of contaminated meat from Brazil has come to light in the wake of the scandal, but Brazilian food industry’s credibility around the globe has suffered a serious blow, which the meat industry and the government in Brasilia are working to overcome.
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