São Paulo – The Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture has sent two veterinarians to Brazil to issue permits for slaughter facilities and to renew permits for ones that already ship their beef to the Arab country. The professionals started working this week and will stay in Brazil until late September.
Ahmed Abdul Moaty and Abu El Hassam Mahmoud El Aziz will visit 24 meat packing companies in the states of Mato Grosso, Pará, Goiás, São Paulo, Acre, Amapá, Rio Grande do Sul, and Minas Gerais.
This Wednesday (24) the veterinarians met with Acre state interim governor Nazareth Araújo. They let her know that the slaughter facilities of Frigorífico Santo Afonso do Acre (Frisacre) have been approved to export to Egypt. The company is expected to start doing so in October.
“The visit lasts a day. They go over the papers and they tour the facilities. The visit focuses on two things: the halal slaughter process, and the freezing and storage process. Those are very important. They watch from the moment the ox enters the premises through to the moment of storage,” explains Bassim El Zoghbi, director of the halal sector at the Federation of Muslim Associations in Brazil (Fambras), which in turn coordinates the Brazil Halal Islamic Food Center (Cibal-Halal).
When it comes to beef, halal certification attests that animals are slaughtered under the rules of sharia, the Muslim law. Halal certification is mandatory in order for food products such as beef and poultry to be sold to Muslim nations.
Cibal-Halal oversees and accompanies the Egyptian veterinarians, since the permits to sell beef from Brazil to the Arab country carry its label.
“Back in Egypt, they’ll write up a report and submit it to the government indicating which of the plants are accredited,” says Zoghbi. “So far, only one or two have been denied their permits,” he notes.
According to Zoghbi, at least two Egyptian missions come to Brazil each year to give new permits or renew existing ones. At this time, 132 Brazilian facilities are accredited to export beef to Egypt.
Numbers from the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (Abiec) show Egypt ranking second on the list of importers last month, at USD 57.8 million. Year-to-date through July, it ranks third at USD 399 million in imports.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
