China on Saturday lifted a ban on the import of Brazilin meat after receiving full assurance over the quality of meat, Brazil's agriculture minister said. The reprieve will come as a big relief for the meat industry in the Latin American country which annually exports meat worth billions of dollar to China.

Like Us on Facebook

"China has accepted our explanations and we will continue sending products there without restrictions except for the plants that we ourselves decided to suspend," Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi told Reuters. 

Maggi claimed that the suspension was lifted only after the Brazilian government carried out a gigantic exercise to explain Chinese authorities that the "investigation targeted the conduct of individuals and not the quality of the meat."   

The minister did not offer any timeline as to when will China resume the import of Brazilian meat. However, some sources in China claim that the Brazilian meat has already started being cleared in Shanghai.

Brazil President Michel Temer reportedly plans to call Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the suspension of meat import and also probably to assure him about the quality of Brazilin meat.  

China Imposes Ban on Brazilian Meat over Bribery Scandal       

China suspended the import of Brazilian meat on Monday after reports emerged that several health ministers were bribed to allow the export of tainted meat products. Following the report, Brasilia ordered 21 meat processing plants to halt the export of meat products. Only Seara Alimentos Ltd, which is the world's biggest meatpacking company, was allowed to carry on their export operation.

The Asian giant happens to be one of the top importers of meat from the South American country. The middle kingdom accounted for nearly 31 percent of Brazilian import during thefirst half of the last year. On a full year basis, China imported more than $703 million of meat from Brazil last year.

TagsBrazilian Meat, Brazil, china, China and Brazil