Bans on meat imports from Brazil following the announced investigation into alleged bribery over meat safety issues were short-lived as China, Chile and Egypt have resumed imports from Brazil. Meat industry publication Meatingplace reports the temporary bans by the three nations were lifted over the weekend. However, meat purchases from the processing plants under investigation will remain suspended. The countries were among more than a dozen nations that have restricted purchases from Brazil, following the March 17th announcement of an investigation into alleged corruption involving 33 public sanitary inspectors and 21 meat processing plants. The decisions to resume purchases brings some relief to the Brazilian meat industry, which accumulated millions of dollars in losses last week due to the temporary bans. China alone is the second largest importer of Brazilian poultry and the third largest buyer of pork.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.