The fallout from the Brazilian meat scandal has spread to the Arabian Gulf region as food authorities start to order inspections on imports from the South American nation.
Saudi Arabia has called for checks of Brazilian meat imports after allegations that some exporters bribed officials to overlook rotten produce.
Several countries, including China and South Korea, ordered increased checks on Brazilian meat imports after the claims emerged – despite efforts by Brazilian officials to reassure the public that the investigation focused only on isolated incidents.
Some of China’s largest supermarkets have pulled Brazilian beef and poultry from their shelves, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Now regional meat importers including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt are stepping up checks.
Food authorities ordered port officials in the kingdom to intensify checks on meat imports from the country, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
The Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority did not immediately respond to questions.
BRF, formerly Brasil Foods, is one of the Brazilian meat companies under investigation at home. BRF opened a US$160 million factory in Abu Dhabi in 2014. The company’s Dubai office was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday.
Oman is waiting for “concrete evidence” of tainted meat in Brazil, Fuad Al Sajwani, Oman’s minister of agriculture and fisheries, told Bloomberg on Wednesday.
“We have to take proper measures in case the situation goes beyond what it is today,” he said. Imports could be banned from one region of Brazil if evidence is found, he said. Brazil is a “major partner with Oman in many projects”, he said.
The scandal comes just months after BRF launched a new unit, One Foods, focused on the halal market.
One Foods is understood to account for as much as 45 per cent of the poultry market in the Gulf states.
BRF has held talks with regional sovereign wealth funds about the potential sale of a stake in One Foods, Reuters reported last week.
The news agency reported in January that the company planned to raise $1.5 billion from an initial public offering.
scronin@thenational.ae
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