(Brazilia-NewsHalal 24 April 2017) Japan joined several other countries in suspending some meat imports from the Brazil. China, European Union, South Korea, Mexico, Hong Kong and Chile have already announced to halt some meat imports from Brazil, a major blow to the struggling economy of a country that is one of the world’s largest exporters of meat.
Japan’s embassy in Brazil reportedly said on Tuesday the country has suspended imports of poultry and other products coming from the 21 Brazilian meat processing plants cited in an ongoing police investigation.
In a short statement, the embassy said imports are suspended indefinitely.
In Brazil, almost eighty percent of meat produced in Brazil are said to be consumed domestically and consumer protection organizations are calling for caution and boycotts. A consumer association, PROTESTE, urged citizens not to buy products from the companies involved in the irregularities. Officials are now fearing slum of meat consumption in Brazil itself.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s federal police and agriculture ministry reprtedly said on Tuesday that sanitary and corruption problems found in the nation’s meatpacking industry were isolated incidents, an attempt to tamp down a scandal that has led the country`s biggest export markets to ban its meats.
