BUZZ

Brazil’s giant meat industry suffered a heavy blow last week when Hong Kong banned imports in response to allegations that inspectors in Brazil were faking certificates for rotten products. Hong Kong is the biggest market for Brazilian beef, importing US$718 million worth in 2016. Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety said it had temporarily suspended the imports of frozen and chilled meat and poultry “in view of the fact that the quality of the meat from Brazil is in question”. The move followed a similar ban by China, which is Brazil’s biggest market for beef and poultry overall. South Korea, for its part, lifted a temporary suspension on the distribution of chicken already imported from Brazil, after authorities there performed quality inspections and confirmed that no tainted poultry had entered the country.