The largest meatpacker in the world, JBS, has suspended operations at 33 of its 36 plants in Brazil “amid the corruption scandal that has caused some of the country’s biggest export markets to ban Brazilian meats,” said Reuters. A police investigation says meat inspectors accepted bribes to allow sales of low-quality meat, or did not inspect plants at all; the Agriculture Ministry says only a couple of dozen plants were targeted.
The USDA said none of the 21 facilities targeted by Brazilian police has shipped meat to the United States. Its meat inspection agency said it will re-inspect and test for pathogens all shipments of beef from the South American country.
Brazil ships minimal amounts of chilled or frozen “fresh” beef to U.S. buyers. Most of its cargoes are canned or cooked beef. Overall, Brazil shipped 116.4 million pounds of beef to the United States during 2016, when beef imports from all countries totaled 3 billion pound.