China lifts suspensions of Brazilian processors

The Chinese government is now willing to receive poultry meat shipments from Brazil again. Photo: Koos Groenewold

The Chinese General Administration of Customs (GACC) has lifted its suspension of exports from 3 Brazilian processors in the last week of January.

The processors, of which 2 belong to JBS and 1 belongs to Aurora, were banned from exporting to china following coronavirus-related issues. The affected JBS factories are located respectively in Três Passos (pork) and in Passo Fundo (chicken), both located within the Rio Grande do Sul state. In addition, China lifted the suspension of meat exports from the Aurora plant in Chapecó, Santa Catarina. In April 2020, JBS’s Passo Fundo, home to the Seara brand, was inspected by the Brazilian Labour Prosecutor’s Office (MPT) because of a Covid-19 outbreak among its workers.

In August of the same year, the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture decided on its own accord to stop this plant exporting to China. In a note, JBS said the measure reflected the company’s mission to “implement the highest levels of health and quality.” The company currently owns 25 processors in Brazil, which are authorised to export to China.

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The resumption of exports from the Aurora plant in Chapecó follows suspension by the Chinese authorities earlier this month. The company stated that it has invested € 15 million to implement measures to protect its workers against the new coronavirus. “We put in practice dozens of actions supported by the guidelines of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Labour Secretariat of the Ministry of Economy to prevent people from contracting Covid-19,” President Neivor Canton stated.