BRASILIA: The department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries suspended meat imports from three Brazilian production facilities last week as a result of ongoing investigations by Brazilian authorities into alleged food safety fraud.
According to Bomikazi Molapo, the department’s spokesperson, Brazilian officials suspended the facilities on March 5, after which South Africa suspended imports from these plants on March 16, when it received an official report from the Brazilian authorities.
The Brazilian meat industry has been reeling after investigations, which began last year, by its ministry of agriculture and livestock as well as the Brazilian federal police into alleged fraud allowing the sale and export of substandard and rancid meat.
A number of firms, including BRF, one of the largest poultry exporters in the world, have been implicated in the scandal. Two of the recently suspended facilities belong to BRF.
