|
 The ministry said it had started procedures to cancel the federal
inspection licenses of at least two companies in connection with the
findings. Without such licenses, which certify that products are
safe, meatpacking companies cannot operate.
The ministry's audit work also raised issues such as excess starch
in sausages and water beyond the tolerated limits in chicken
samples. Such problems were found in 10.2 percent of the samples,
the ministry said.
The 21 plants involved in the audit were implicated in a probe that
alleged that major meatpackers bribed federal health inspectors to
allow production and marketing of irregular meat-based products.
After concluding the audit work ahead of schedule, the government
said it would "intensify inspections" and advance the audit
calendar.
Inspections are being carried out in the states of Bahia, Tocatins,
Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina and São Paulo, the ministry said.
"We want the audits to give us a real sense of the state of
inspection services in each state," said Eumar Novacki, executive
secretary at the Agriculture Ministry. The findings of the audits
will be shared with federal prosecutors and the federal police, he
said.
On March 17, an investigation of government sanitation authorities
implicated meat-packers such as BRF SA and JBS SA, and prompted
large buyers such as China and Hong Kong to ban Brazil's meat
products temporarily.
[to top of second column] |
Police have accused more than 100 people, mostly inspectors, of
taking bribes in exchange for allowing the sale of rancid products,
falsifying export documents or failing to inspect meatpacking
plants.
In April and May, Agriculture Ministry officials will visit
importers of Brazilian meat products in a bid to show buyers that
they are safe, according to the statement.
Earlier this week, the Agriculture Ministry lifted an export ban on
three of the 21 plants targeted in the meat probe after the audit
work found no irregularities.
(Reporting by Cesar Raizer; Writing by Marcelo Teixeira and Ana Mano;
Editing by Peter Cooney)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
