Brazil still in meat stew
STOP SHIPPING: DO IT VOLUNTARILY OR FACE BAN, SAYS EUROPEAN UNION
Exports grind to halt following police investigation into corruption involving food sanitation inspectors.
Brasilia
The European Union (EU) has asked Brazil to voluntarily suspend all shipments of meat to its member countries to avoid imposing a ban that would take time to lift.
But the Brazilian government has not agreed, EU diplomats in Brasilia said on Thursday.
Brazilian meat exports have, in any case, ground almost to a halt following a police investigation into corruption involving food-sanitation inspectors and accusations that rotten products were sold.
A spokesperson said Brazilian Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi was not aware of the request.
The Brazilian government suspended meat shipments from the 21 meat-packing plants under investigation by the federal police, while insisting the quality of Brazilian meat was not in doubt.
But European farm groups called on the EU Commission on Thursday to take stronger action against Brazilian meat imports because of the scandal.
EU experts met in Brussels yesterday to decide on possible further measures.
The EU had already suspended imports from four Brazilian meat-processing facilities earlier this week.
EU ambassadors have been seeking more information on the irregularities discovered in Brazil’s meat industry and have criticised Brazil’s government for failing to deal with the problem as a public health issue, according to a European diplomat who attended a EU meeting on Wednesday.
“We asked the Brazilians to suspend all exports but they refused,” said the diplomat, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
“There is overall disappointment with the way Brazil is treating this as a public relations issue, rather than from a public health point of view,” the diplomat said.
Another European diplomatic source confirmed the request that Brazil voluntarily suspend all meat shipments to the EU because a ban would take a long time to undo. – Reuters