TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - General Director of Livestock and Animal Health from the Ministry of Agriculture, I Ketut Diarmata, confirmed that the Indonesian government has stopped the flow of beef and chicken imports from Brazil.
“We don’t import [Brazilian meat products], we have even stopped importing from Malaysia,” he said on Thursday, March 23, 2017.
A number of countries had previously stopped importing beef and chicken from Brazil. Mexico, for example, has stopped importing meat from Brazil since March 19, 2017. Brazil’s questionable product quality is said to be the main cause of the import halts.
China and several European Union countries have implemented a strict import policy for Brazil’s agricultural products, following the discovery of exported inconsumable Brazilian beef products to a number of countries.
“Due to this reason, we predict that more than 30 countries that will no longer trust us as a meat exporter,” says Agricultural Minister of Brazil, Blairo Maggi.
Three meat packaging companies have been closed while the other 21 are currently under investigation. President of Brazil, Michel Temer, explained that the companies involved in the scandal are just a small portion of Brazil’s meat industry.
Chairman of the Indonesian Meat Importers Association, Asnawi, urged the government to tighten the beef import lane in order to prevent Brazilian products entering the country. He said that although Indonesia do not import products from Brazil, there is still a potential to leak.
He explained that Indonesia does not import beef and other agricultural products from Brazil because the Animal Health Organization (OIE) deemed the country not yet free from foot and mouth diseases.
“Not only to anticipate diseases but also to prevent non-halal meat products entering Indonesia,” Asnawi said.
ARKHELUS | PRAGA UTAMA | ALJAZEERA | BBCA