Hong Kong said Friday it will recall Brazilian meat from 21 processing plants under investigation over a rotten meat scandal. The city, which is the biggest market for Brazilian beef, already issued a ban on all meat imports from the country earlier this week.
It comes after police in Brazil said they had uncovered a scheme to bribe corrupt health inspectors at processing plants to certify tainted meat. China has also suspended all imports and Brazilian officials say exports have dropped from $63 million a day to just $74,000.
Hong Kong's health secretary Ko Wing-man announced a "comprehensive recall" of all "chilled, frozen and poultry meats" which had already been imported from the factories at the heart of the crisis. "We couldn't completely eliminate hidden dangers in terms of food safety," Ko told reporters when explaining the decision. Ko said six of the affected Brazilian plants had exported meat to Hong Kong. He hoped the move would help restore customer confidence in Brazilian meat that had not been brought in from the factories involved. Hong Kong imported $718 million worth of beef in 2016, according to Brazilian government figures.