In relation to the stopping of shipments from BRF to the European Union, the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA, in Portuguese), which represents the country's poultry and swine industry, trusts that there will be an effective and immediate solution for the recovery of exports, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply.
The ABPA noted that this sector generates 4.1 million direct and indirect jobs for the country. Just within BRF, there are more than 100,000 direct jobs. The poultry industry is also makes one of the largest contributions to Brazil's positive trade balance, exceeding US$7 billion in foreign currency.
For these reasons, the Brazilian government needs and should clarify the issue quickly, the association said.
"The country can't give in to the threats that put thousands of jobs and companies in our sector at risk. We are long-standing partners of the European Union, where we export more than five million tons of chicken meat, only in the last 10 years. There has never been any record of public health problems related to Brazilian meat. Therefore, there are no specific reasons to impose embargoes on any company in our sector, especially in the case of past events that have already been corrected," the ABPA said in a statement.
It is even worth clarifying: the whole issue is due to divergences on criteria for the classification of exported products with respect to Salmonella spp, which, in practical terms, does not represent a risk to public health.
Finally, it should be remembered that Brazil is the largest exporter of chicken meat in the world. "Over four decades, we have shipped more than 60 million MT of chicken meat, in more than 2.4 million containers to 203 countries. Even the first container was sent by Sadia, a brand that belongs to BRF. Throughout its history, the Brazilian poultry industry has built a solid path based on the preservation of its sanitary status and the quality of its products. Nothing has changed," the ABPA added.
ABPA's reaction comes at a time when Brazil's two largest exporters — BRF and JBS — are in trouble over the investigations of Operation Weak Flesh.
