Brazil hails victory as China, Chile and Egypt lift meat ban

(March 27): Brazil’s under-fire meat industry received a major boost as China, Chile and Egypt began lifting restrictions on imports from the Latin American country.

Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi announced China’s "total reopening of the market for Brazilian meat" in a statement released Saturday by the ministry’s press office. “This testifies categorically to the solidity and quality of the Brazilian sanitary system and is a victory for our exporting capacity,” he wrote. Chile and Egypt also confirmed changes to their bans.

Operation Weak Flesh, the Brazilian police investigation into allegations that inspectors were bribed to approve the sale of tainted meat, dealt a body blow to the country’s agricultural industry. Brazil accounts for about 20% of global beef exports and almost 40% of chicken exports. Twenty-five countries put some kind of restriction on Brazilian meat imports in the wake of the scandal. The first available data from the Trade Ministry showed meat exports plunged 99.9% from the daily average to US$74,000 on Tuesday.

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