Some of the world’s biggest protein buyers are slapping limits on supplies from Brazil as producers in the country become embroiled in a tainted-meat scandal.
China, the largest importer of Brazil’s chicken and beef, has temporarily suspended shipments from the South American country, while the EU and Chile have restricted purchases.
Singaporean authorities said they were monitoring meat shipments from Brazil, as South Korea lifted its short-lived ban on chicken imports from BRF SA after confirming that it never purchased rotten chicken from Brazil.
Photo: Reuters
The move to protect meat supplies comes after Brazilian federal authorities last week said they were investigating evidence that companies — including BRF and JBS SA, the nation’s largest meat producers, bribed government officials to approve the sale of spoiled meat.
Prosecutors allege some sausages and cold cuts contained animal parts such as pig heads, that some meat products were adulterated with cardboard, and that in some cases, acid was used to mask the smell of tainted meat.
Global importers were quick to take action in wake of the scandal. China and Hong Kong were the destination for about a third of the US$5.5 billion of beef shipped from Brazil last year, according to the meat exporters group Abiec.
They accounted for 17 percent of the chicken shipped by Brazil, industry data showed.
China has said it would not accept meat shipments until Brazil provides further clarification on the probe.
Officials have blocked some shipments of beef and chicken from clearing customs at ports, said a person with knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be identified because the information is not public.
Chile also temporarily banned all meat imports from Brazil.
In the UK, the top buyer of Brazilian meat in the EU, regulators stepped up border checks and hygiene inspections on meat from Brazil.
Yum China Holdings Inc (百勝中國), which operates the biggest fast-food chain of more than 7,500 restaurants in China, declined to comment on whether it was affected by the scandal.
McDonald’s Corp, which runs 2,400 outlets, said it does no import meat from the suppliers named in the probe.
The company uses mostly domestic and Australian meat at its restaurants in China, a spokeswoman said.
China edged past Brazil last year as the second-largest consumer of beef and veal, with both nations accounting for about 13 percent of global demand.
South Korean retailers Lotte Shopping Co’s Lotte Mart, E-Mart Inc and Homeplus Co said they are suspending sales of Brazilian chicken at their stores out of caution, even as the country lifted a temporary suspension on chicken imports from BRF.
The lift came after government officials confirmed with Brazil that imports from BRF are from plants that are not contaminated, the South Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said.
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