BRASÍLIA, Brazil — Brazil's giant meat industry suffered a heavy blow Tuesday, when Hong Kong became the latest to ban imports in response to allegations of rotten meat being sold with
BRASÍLIA, Brazil — Brazil’s giant meat industry suffered a heavy blow Tuesday, when Hong Kong became the latest to ban imports in response to allegations of rotten meat being sold with falsified certificates.
Hong Kong is the biggest market for Brazilian beef, importing $718 million worth in 2016, according to Brazilian government figures.
Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety said it had temporarily suspended the import of frozen and chilled meat and poultry “in view of the fact that the quality of the meat from Brazil is in question.”
This followed a similar ban by China, which is Brazil’s biggest market for beef and poultry overall.
READ: China, EU ban Brazil meat after rotten scandal
South Korea, for its part, lifted a temporary suspension on the distribution of chicken already imported from Brazil, after authorities there performed quality inspections and confirmed that no tainted poultry had entered the country.
It has no plans to close its market to Brazilian meat, the South Korean embassy in Brasilia said.
But the European Union earlier demanded a stop to exports by four companies implicated in the scandal, while Chile suspended all meat imports, prompting Brazil to threaten retaliatory measures against its Latin American trade partner.
Mexico issued its own ban on poultry imports late Tuesday, saying it wanted Brazil “to show scientific proof and guarantees of the sanitary level, quality and safety” of the produce.
