Brazil health inspectors blame understaffing, budget cuts on beef ban

Brazil’s health inspectors union blamed understaffing and budget cuts on the sanitary problems that led to a U.S. ban on Brazilian beef. CNBC reports that U.S. inspection of the imports turned up abscesses in the meat and signs of systemic failure of inspections.

The ANFFA union said in an emailed statement that there are around 270 meatpacking installations in Brazil operating without inspectors. That represents around 6 percent of the 4,800 meatpacking installations authorized to sell abroad. ANFFA President Mauricio Porto also said that understaffing played a role in the corruption scandal that had been plaguing Brazilian meat exports, since it’s more difficult to commit bribery when there are two federal inspectors present instead of one.

Brazilian Deputy Agriculture Minister Eumar Novacki on Friday said none of the problems found represented health risks for consumers, adding that some cattle had experienced adverse reactions to certain vaccines.

Source: CNBC

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