FNB Mozambique takes to a new level its pledge to help
O País
The results of laboratory tests on imported chickens seized in March are not yet ready, Mozambique’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Ragendra de Sousa, has admitted.
Interviewed by the independent television station STV, Sousa said samples had been sent to laboratories in South Africa and Portugal to test whether the chickens and chicken products were fit for human consumption.
On 30 March, the government announced a temporary ban on all imports of chicken. The main target was Brazilian chicken, in the wake of the scandal of “Operacao Carne Fraca” (“Operation Rotten Meat”) launched by the Brazilian Federal Police, aimed at fighting corruption and crimes against public health in the meat trade.
The Brazilian police uncovered a scandal whereby certain meat companies used food additives (such as ascorbic acid or sodium nitrate) to disguise the fact that their meat or chicken was going rotten, or had passed its expiry date.
Many of the Brazilian chickens imported into Mozambique came from the companies BRF and Seara International, which had been cited in the “Carne Fraca” investigations.
The Mozambican government decided to suspend temporarily the import of all meat from Brazil, and all chickens from anywhere. This was because Brazilian chickens are sent all over the world, and are often re-packaged and re-exported. Thus chickens labelled as from South Africa or from European countries could, in reality, be Brazilian chickens.
Brigades from the National Inspectorate of Economic Activities (INAE) seized 526 tonnes of imported chicken. These chickens were been placed in sealed bags inside freezers, in the care of the shops or other companies that own them, while laboratory inspections were undertaken.
The government hoped that the laboratory results would be known within a week, but this deadline has been missed. Sousa said that if the analyses show that the chickens are not fit for consumption, they will be incinerated. He thought that this was the most likely outcome.
Sousa added that the “Carne Fraca” scandal showed the need for much tighter checks on imported chickens. This could take the form of rigorous pre-shipment inspection before the chickens have left their country of origin.
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