Isaura Daniel*
São Paulo – A representative of the government of the United Arab Emirates visited Brazil last week to learn a little more about cattle beef and chicken meat production in the country. The secretary general of Municipalities of the Emirates, Jassim M. Bin Darwesh, visited slaughterhouses Independência, in the city of Nova Andradina, in the midwestern Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, and Moinho Cruzeiros do Sul, in the city of Amparo, in the interior of the southeastern state of São Paulo, between Wednesday and Friday.
The General Secretariat of Municipalities brings together the municipalities of the Emirates, and one of its purposes is the inspection of production of food distributed in the country. "Both factories are excellent. The sanitary care is also excellent," stated Darwesh to ANBA when addressing the matter of Brazilian slaughterhouses. The secretary general will report what he saw to the government on returning to the United Arab Emirates.
Darwesh analysed both the sanitary question and halal slaughter. "In the Emirates there are residents from various countries. We must respect the sanitary and religious aspects," he said. He stated that the United Arab Emirates purchased products from various nations and that the country considers both quality and price when selecting suppliers.
The United Arab Emirates already import various foods from Brazil, among them chicken. Last year the Brazilian had revenues of US$ 110.2 million with sales of chicken to the country in the Middle East. In the first four months of this year, exports of the product reached US$ 39 million. Chicken meat was the second item most sold by Brazil to the Emirates in the period. Last year, the product was in the third place in the rank.
Halal
During his visit to Brazil, Darwesh was accompanied by the executive manager of the Federation of Muslim Associations of Brazil, Mohamed Hussein El Zoghbi. The Federation has a division called Brazilian Islamic Centre of Halal Food (Cibal), responsible for the training of the professionals who supervise halal slaughter at Brazilian slaughterhouses.
The secretary general of Municipalities of the Emirates also visited the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (CCAB), last Friday, where he met the organization president, Antonio Sarkis Jr., the secretary general, Michel Alaby, and director Helmi Mohammed Ibraim Nasr. The Arab was given a plate by the CCAB, an Institutional DVD about the Chamber and book New World in the Tropics, by Gilberto Freire, translated into Arabic by Nasr.
*Translated by Mark Ament
