Rotten beef sold by top companies in Brazil

That ban would stay in place until Brazil was able to confirm companies exporting meat to Chile had been adequately vetted.

IFA president Joe Healy said the latest shocking revelations on the failure of Brazil to meet European Union standards and controls in the meat sector raises very serious concerns around European Union meat imports.

It was unclear at the time of this article being published if any countries had banned imports of Brazilian beef or poultry over the rotten meat scandal.

Meatpackers are alleged to have bribed dozens of inspectors to keep rotten meat on the market.

Temer ended his address by stating that of the 853,000 shipments of meat exported from Brazil past year, only 184 were considered “noncompliant” by importers – and these referred to problems regarding the labels or certificates and never the product’s quality. One Chinese importer is reported to have 160 containers of Brazilian beef on the water. “Trade is like that”, Maggi said.

An NTUC FairPrice spokesman said it is aware of ongoing investigations into BRF, which owns the Sadia and Perdigao brands, and JBS, owner of Big Frango and Swift brands, which supplies poultry products to NTUC FairPrice as well as other retailers. Among them are JBS, the world’s largest beef exporter, and BRF, the world’s top poultry producer.

The news was met with anger and frustration in Brazil, which is already reeling from corruption scandals affecting the highest echelons of government. “There are some reasons for optimism here”. But he insisted that the tainted meat occurred in “only a very few businesses” and did not represent a wider problem.

“Agribusiness is extremely important for us in Brazil”, Temer said in an address on Monday.

The European Commission said the scandal would not affect negotiations between the European Union and South American bloc Mercosur about agreements on free trade. Total meat exports amount to about seven percent of exports and 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product, according to Capital Economics.

While some of the substance of the reports now appears to be under question, China’s regulatory body, the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine nevertheless yesterday put a hold on all customs clearance and quarantine of Brazilian meat until further notice.