MANILA (Reuters) – On Friday, the Philippines imposed a transitional ban on imports of poultry meat from Brazil after two Chinese cities discovered lines of the new coronavirus in shipments of imported frozen food, adding bird wings from the South American country.
The Shenzhen city government knew that the bird came from a factory owned by Aurora, Brazil’s third largest poultry and pork exporter.
Brazil has the second-worst COVID-19 outbreak in the world after the United States, with more than 3.2 million cases and more than 105,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
“With China’s recent reports and in accordance with the country’s food protection law for food operators and protecting Filipino consumers, the prohibition on transience on the importation of poultry meat is imposed,” the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement.
He specified how long the ban would apply. Brazil accounts for approximately 20% of the Philippine poultry meat imports.
However, the Philippine Department of Agriculture is confident in the public that poultry products that are lately in the local market can be fed safely.
The World Health Organization said Thursday that it had not noticed evidence that coronavirus spread through food or packaging and suggested to others who are not afraid of the virus entering the food chain.
Reporting through Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing via Nick Macfie
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