Brazilian poultry case to be handed over to WTO
Brazil threatens to contest Hong Kong's decision of suspending poultry imports from Aurora plant involved in the controversy related to coronavirus contamination of frozen meat in China. the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA) said it will support the Ministry of Agriculture in questioning the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“ABPA will support the search for solutions within the scope of the World Trade Organization since it is not a decision made based on scientific criteria,” says the entity, through its advisory.
The measure adopted by Hong Kong, China's autonomous province, was taken after the government of the Chinese city of Shenzhen reported that it found Covid-19 in frozen chicken wings exported by Brazil.
ABPA recalls that the Hong Kong Food Security Center (CFS) itself recognizes that there is no scientific basis for the contamination of coronavirus through food and points out that it has not been officially notified.
“It is worth mentioning, as the Hong Kong health authority itself points out, that there is no scientific evidence that meat transmits the virus, as pointed out by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Organization for Agriculture and Food (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), ” said ABPA in a statement.
A similar measure is expected to take place against the Philippines, who placed an embargo on Brazilian chicken meat last week without an official statement. “Brazil understands that the decision taken by the Philippine government was disproportionate in interrupting the commerce of an entire sector based on news published by the Chinese press of a suspicion, still under investigation by the GACC (China's health agency), of detecting acid coronavirus nucleic acid in the packaging of a product related to a commercial establishment. The Philippine authorities have not officially notified Brazil of the decision or made any prior contact requesting information about the episode in China, not complying with articles provided for in an agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO), in which the two countries are signatories”, said the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture.
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