Over 700lbs illegal Brazilian meat products seized

The Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, on Friday, seized more than 700 pounds of meat products illegally imported from Brazil at the Casa Mato Grosso Supermarket, Robb Street, Georgetown.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of GLDA, Dr. Grayson Halley, Guyana does not import meat from Brazil because of the presence of foot and mouth disease in that country.

Apart from the dangers of foot and mouth disease, the meat products, imported only recently, are also close to expiring.

“They import them close to expiry, then they repackage them to give the consumer while they are expired because the labels are printed on to the packages so you cannot leave it there.  You have to repackage them so consumers do not know what it is they are buying,” the CEO said.

The seized meat included beef, pork and tripe products.

The CEO explained that sometimes officers exercise leniency if a person is found with a quantity of meat for personal consumption, “but when you have products coming in huge quantities like this one, that’s going to consumers, that is being sold without proper documentation, we certainly have a strong objection against those.”

The illegal meat was found during GLDA’s on-going surveillance and inspection exercise to ensure there is quality protein products fit for human consumption with the upcoming Christmas season.

Meanwhile, the CEO is urging the public to be mindful when making purchases of imported meat.

The GLDA will also be engaging a legal team to prosecute persons found breaching its guidelines.

Friday’s seizure follows closely on the heels of a similar exercise on Monday where 483 pounds of expired and undocumented imported duck meat from the United States was seized. (Extracted and modified from the Department of Public Information)