Uruguay disqualifies meat processing plant for sending meat to China that was not allowed

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Uruguayan government on Friday disqualified a meat processing plant in the town of Rosario (southwest) after China suspended the company for having sent cuts of meat with fat not allowed, said the Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, Fernando Mattos.

In this sense, the minister said in a press conference that they received the communication from the customs administration of the Asian giant of the “non-conformity of the product of Uruguayan origin”, since it generated a discrepancy with the description of the shipment, so it was decided to stop issuing the international health certificate for the company.

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Mattos also pointed out that, in addition to the suspension of the meatpacking plant, the authorization of the Ministry official who had issued the sanitary certificate was also suspended.

“What is specifically involved is an inspection by the Chinese sanitary service of Uruguayan merchandise originating from the Rondatel establishment in the department (province) of Colonia, in which the presence of a product described as non-compliant bovine body fat was found,” he explained.

He also stated that an investigation process has already begun, which is estimated to take a few months to detect the origin of the episode and thus “be in strict compliance” with the protocol signed by both nations.

“We consider it an isolated episode; hopefully it is so, we have to corroborate it in the investigation process, but this has been a finding of a very low volume of product. It should not have happened, but if we consider it in the large volume that we have been exporting to China, we understand that this has been an isolated case that we will have to define origins and causes,” he said.

In April, China had already suspended the purchase of another Uruguayan meatpacking plant -this time for non-compliance of labeling- and, three months later, the Uruguayan Executive obtained the company’s rehabilitation so that it could export meat to that country again.

On the other hand, the minister regretted that the Rosario company must close its doors until the rehabilitation is achieved since more than 90% of its production is destined for China. That means that about 300 workers of the locality were temporarily unemployed.

“This year we are going to be exporting around 300 million kilos, we are going to be close to US$1.5 billion dollars of exports, it is going to be a record figure, and this episode that we consider isolated does not mean that there is an undermining of trust between the Ministry of Livestock and its services and the Chinese sanitary authority. We reinforce our commitment”, he concluded.