September 9, 2010

Russia bans JBS' meat imports

Russia has banned beef and poultry imports from several Brazilian plants, including JBS, the animal and plant health watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said.

The ban will apply to three JBS Brazilian units effective September 8 after their beef and poultry were found to contain oxitetracicline antibiotic, E. coli and listeria and to one Argentine JBS plant due to the presence of the same antibiotic.

Moreover, another JBS plant will be banned beginning September 14 from shipping beef and pork to Russia with listeria and salmonella.

The ban will also apply to another plant belonging to Alibem Comercial de Alimentos firm.

There are 126 Brazilian plants eligible to supply beef to Russia, 104 to supply poultry and 62 to supply pork. There are still JBS plants left on all three lists, which are still allowed to ship meat to Russia, although some of them are under enhanced control. Some JBS plants had earlier been banned from exporting beef and pork to Russia due to the presence of E. coli and other dangerous bacteria in their products.

Russia regularly imposes bans on various meat products from countries hit by various diseases and from particular plants if it finds their products to contain dangerous substances.

Normally, the bans are lifted after producers resolve the problems. The latest one was the lifting of a ban on US poultry meat, after Washington agreed not to apply chlorine rinses banned in Russia to meat meant for exports to this country and of a ban on US pork in which antibiotics had been found.