The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has suspended all imports of fresh beef from Brazil amid “recurring concerns” about the food safety of the product.

The USDA has said the ban, which takes effect immediately, will remain in place until the Brazilian agriculture ministry takes corrective action to bring food safety standards for beef shipments up to a satisfactory standard for US authorities.

Inspections

The USDA said it has been inspecting 100% of all Brazilian beef imports since March, when a year-long investigation by Brazilian authorities known as Operation Weak Flesh revealed rotten or tainted meat was being sold by factories after bribes were paid to customs officials.

However, in that time the USDA inspection team known as the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has rejected 106 lots of Brazilian beef, which came to a combined 862t, on public health concerns, sanitary conditions, and animal health issues.

The 106 lots rejected at port equates to a 11% refusal rate on Brazilian beef imports by US authorities since March, which the USDA says is substantially higher than the rejection rate of 1% of shipments from the rest of the world.

US secretary for agriculture Sonny Perdue said food safety is one of the critical missions of his department.

My first priority is to protect American consumers

“Although international trade is an important part of what we do at USDA, and Brazil has long been one of our partners, my first priority is to protect American consumers. That’s what we’ve done by halting the import of Brazilian fresh beef,” added Perdue.

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Full coverage: Brazilian Meat Scandal