SK officials hold emergency meeting over Brazil tainted meat implications

St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN); Top officials from Health, Agriculture, Consumer Affairs and other departments met on Wednesday to determine if St. Kitts and Nevis has been affected by the unfolding expired meat scandal that has caused countries around the world to halt imports on some meat products from Brazil.
The European Union, Hong Kong, China and closer to home Jamaica, Trinidad, Dominica and Antigua to name a few, have banned meat product imports from Brazil, including tinned corned beef.
The US is also on high alert, with the USDA now testing all shipments of raw beef and ready-to-eat products from Brazil for pathogens.
The import bans came as a result of recent findings that meat producers in Brazil allegedly bribed inspectors to certify meat that was either rotten or tainted with salmonella.
The Brazilian government has since shut down three major plants and suspended the export licenses for 21 meat packing plants as well.
Authorities in St. Kitts are working with Customs to determine if any meat products from Brazil entered the federation in recent times. While it reportedly appears that the federation did receive two shipments of products, that was early in 2016; exactly what those food items were is still being determined.
Authorities are also trying to determine which brands have been affected by the tainted meat.
WINN FM spoke with Comptroller of Customs Geroid Belle on Wednesday, who said up until this point the Department has not received any communication regarding imports bans, but anticipates some formal communication would be forthcoming following Wednesday’s emergency meeting