“Rotten Meat”

The Mozambican government on Thursday announced a ban on the import of Brazilian meat and of imported chickens from anywhere in the world.The decision follows the Brazilian federal police operation codenamed “Carne Fraca” (“Rotten Meat”) aimed at fighting corruption and crimes against public health in the Brazilian 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 was going rotten, or had passed its expiry date.

These food additives are authorized for use in many countries, including Mozambique, and, when used correctly, present no threat to the health of consumers. But in Brazil the additives were being used to disguise the true state of the meat, and make it appear fresh and thus fit for human consumption.At a Maputo press conference on Thursday, the National Director of Trade, Zulmira Macamo, said a team from the Ministries of Industry and Trade, Agriculture, and Health, and from the Tax authority (AT) had checked across the country to see what Brazilian imports were being sold on the Mozambican market.They found no meat imports from Brazil. But between October and February 360 tonnes of Brazilian chickens (whole chickens and chicken pieces) had been imported. Most of these imports came from the companies BRF and Seara International, which had been cited in the “Carne Fraca” investigations.

The government has decided to suspend temporarily the import of all meat from Brazil, and all chickens from anywhere. Macamo explained this is 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.

Mozambican poultry producers have complained for years at what they regard as unfair competition from cheap Brazilian chickens. Now they have an unexpected opportunity to rise to the challenge and supply the market without any Brazilian competition.Macamo believed this is possible, with the major domestic poultry producers (in Maputo, Manica and Nampula provinces) able to provide around 1,000 tonnes of chicken a month.

As for the imported chickens already on sale, the head of the National Inspectorate of Economic Activities (INAE), Maria Rita Freitas, said that 603 brigades had fanned out across the country, finding Brazilian chickens on sale in every province except Niassa in the far north. The inspectors seized a total of 526 tonnes of imported chicken, valued at 76.8 million meticais (about 1.15 million US dollars).These chickens have been placed in sealed bags inside freezers, in the care of the shops or other companies that own them, while laboratory inspections are undertaken. Samples have been sent for microbiological analysis in laboratories abroad, and the results are expected within a week.If the samples find no health problems, the chickens can be unsealed and put back on sale. But anything that is unfit for human consumption will be destroyed.A spokesperson for the AT, Ariano Chauque, assured the press conference that the customs service, at all the border posts, has been alerted to the situation, and that no chickens and no Brazilian meat will be allowed to enter the country until the ban has been lifted.