Saudi Arabia suspends beef imports from 5 slaughterhouses in Brazil

By Juliana Martins São Paulo, 09/14/2021 - This month Saudi Arabia suspended beef imports from five Brazilian meatpacking plants, according to a document published by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), the government agency that regulates food and medicine in the parents. The reason was not informed, but the units are located in the State of Minas Gerais, where Brazilian authorities identified a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the disease of the "mad cow" earlier this month. The suspension of purchases began on September 6th. Plena Alimentos S/A, in Pará de Minas, Supremo Carnes, in Ibirite and Campo Belo, and Dimeza Alimentos, of the Fricon Group, in the municipality of Contagem, are prohibited from exporting their beef products to Saudi Arabia . The Saudi decision came into effect on the very day the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) concluded that the two cases of the disease, identified in Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso, do not pose a risk to the ...