Muscat: Oman has suspended all new licences for Brazilian meat importers and is currently testing meat imports from Brazil at border points, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) has announced.
The Sultanate is also in discussions with the Brazilian government over inspection of meat factories there, the ministry added.
Brazilian federal police had uncovered on March 17, an investigation into alleged payments made to government health officials by meat processing companies to forego inspections and ignore abuses.
Since then, countries around the world have banned chicken and beef imports from Brazil.
A Ministry spokesman said: “The ministry will not issue new import licenses from Brazil and will investigate the companies and slaughterhouses who supply the products. If the supplier is in violation, the ministry will stop issuing import licenses for that company or slaughterhouse completely. The ministry is currently in contact with the Brazilian government through official channels to get clarity be clear about on the case.”