European Commissioner for food safety to travel to Brazil
23/03/2017
This came following the disclosure of bribes to meat inspection staff, raising suspicions that some of the meat leaving the factories concerned may not have been fit for human consumption.
Dr Andriukaitis will visit Brasilia and speak to government representatives about their response to the scandal and to examine the implications for imports into the European Union of Brazilian meat, the reports said.
Media in Brazil have also quoted European Commission sources as saying it’s incorrect to say Brazilian meat has already been banned from the 28 states that make up the European Union. Not all packing plants in Brazil have the necessary credentials to export to the EU; of those that do, four are implicated in this scandal. Those four have now had their right to export meat to the EU suspended.
A European Commission spokesperson confirmed to World Leather that Dr Andriukaitis will travel to Brazil on March 26 and stay there until March 29. The spokesperson insisted this visit was already planned and has not been arranged in response to the scandal. However, he confirmed that the situation regarding the scandal and the safety of meat exports from Brazil would now be top of the agenda.
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