Halal Industry

Dubai Municipality following Brazil meat probes closely as ’top safety priority’


Photo: A veterinarian analyses a piece of meat collected by Public Health Surveillance agents during an inspection of supermarkets, at a veterinary laboratory with the public health department in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

Dubai Municipality, the body with jurisdiction over the emirate's city services and upkeep of facilities, is closely following the Brazil meat probes and the matter is already a top priority for the city's food safety, the organisation told Salaam Gateway in an email. 

A spokesperson for DM said that as a prerequisite, all incoming food to Dubai is subject to strict food safety measures.

The Emirates International Accreditation Council (EIAC) has not yet accredited any halal certification body in Brazil, added the spokesperson. 

Food safety is handled at the federal level by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment  and in Dubai it is overlooked by the Dubai Municipality Food Safety Department. 

Around 50 percent of all Brazil's poultry exports and a quarter of its beef exports are halal. In 2015, the Middle East and North Africa imported an estimated $1.4 billion in beef from Brazil. The UAE imported 303,737 tons of chicken meat from Brazil in 2015, according to the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein. 

On Friday, Brazil's Federal Police launched raids of food processing companies in the country following allegations of corruption by health inspectors and the alleged sale of rotten products. Investigations are ongoing. As of this writing, several countries have either barred or started checking Brazilian imports of meat, including China, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, Mexico and Switzerland.

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tags:

Corruption
Food Fraud
Meat