KUWAIT, March 23 (KUNA) -- Kuwait is imposing more stringent measures to monitor and examine meat imports from Brazil, a municipal official announced on Thursday.
Al-Humaidi Al-Mutairi, in charge of the imported food department at Kuwait Municipality, affirmed in a statement today keenness on tightening the supervision and examination of documents for imported beef and poultry from Brazil.
Other GCC states took many extraordinary measures over the past days, increasing the supervision on Brazilian meat and poultry, as well as double-checking the imports' documents, "in the aftermath of reports about exportation of large amounts of spoilt meat.
"The measures applied by the food department are similar to those observed in countries of origin and it functions according to written procedures and specific terms; not in accordance with personal judgement."
The municipal department charged with imports works according to resolutions, ministerial laws and by-laws that regulate the food importation, Al-Mutairi explained.
He further clarified that the tasked personnel and workers deal with the imports upon arrival by: first, visual examination, second by examination at laboratories ahead of pondering specifications of the products.
Invalid ones are either discarded or exported.
Each food consignment is subjected to laboratory examination and testing. Moreover, the attached validity certificates are checked, he elaborated.
Some Asian nations have recently halted meat imports from Brazil, where the police reportedly searched premises of 30 meat companies amid claims about exports of spoilt stocks.
Brazil exports beef and poultry products to more than 150 countries. Main importers from the Latin American nation are Saudi Arabia, China, Singapore, Japan, Russia, Holland and Italy. (end)