Brasília – Exports of exotic products of animal origin generate US$ 400 million for Brazil each year.
The value, disclosed yesterday (5th) by the Ministry of Agriculture, includes the sale of frozen bile, used in production of medication, among them chicken feet and brain, diaphragms, bone marrow, testicles, lungs, tendons and ligaments of bovines to countries like Hong Kong, New Zealand, Japan, Argentina, Singapore, Cuba, Vietnam and Austria, the main buyers.
According to the director of the Department of Inspection of Products of Animal Origin at the Ministry of Agriculture, Nelmon da Costa, most of these products, with little value in Brazil, in the importer countries the products are transformed into meat flour, used in the production of feed for cats and dogs.
Between 2008 and early this month, Hong Kong stood out as the main importer of these exotic national products, having bought 14,500 tonnes of ligaments, tendons and testicles and 3,500 tonnes of frozen aorta.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, each year around 5 billion birds, 30 million bovines and 20 million pigs are slaughtered at establishments inspected by the Federal Inspection Service.
*Translated by Mark Ament
