AS the Brazilian meat ban gathers international attention, the authorities have heightened verification of the affected products at the border town of Lethem, Region Nine.

Barbados and Jamaica have joined several countries which have banned the importation of meat products from Guyana’s territorial neighbour and according to Director of the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) of the Ministry of Public Health, Marlon Cole, the unit is concerned about the situation.

Brazil’s food processing giants, JBF and BRF along with several small companies have been caught up in a scandal, which has rocked the meat industry in the neighboring country, which is one of the world’s largest exporters of beef.

Cole told the Guyana Chronicle on Wednesday that the GA-FDD is checking with the local distributers of the meat products, including corned beef, to determine if the affected brands have entered the local market. He said that the department has increased its verification of all meat products entering Guyana from Brazil at the border town of Lethem, noting that the department will contact the Brazilian Consulate if the situation warrants such intervention.

Cole noted that if the affected brands are found here, the GA-FDD will take the necessary action, including consumer advisory. He explained that the corn beef products could be labeled in another country but may have originated from Brazil. Global attention has been drawn to Brazil’s meat industry this week after federal agents raided the operations of Brazil’s largest food companies on Friday. The raids , according to the New York Times, was undertaken over accusations that their employees oversaw a scheme that included bribing inspectors to allow rotten meals to be served in public schools and salmonella-contaminated meat to be exported to Europe.

A Reuters report stated that China and the European Union curtailed meat imports from Brazil on Monday. According to the report, Brazil’s Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said the government had suspended exports from 21 meat processing units.

According to the report, Police on Friday named BRF SA and JBS SA, along with dozens of smaller rivals, in a two-year probe into how meatpackers allegedly paid off inspectors to overlook practices, including processing rotten meat, shipping exports with traces of salmonella and simply not carrying out inspections of plants.

Brazil ranks alongside India as the world’s largest exporter of beef. In 2016, the neighbouring country exported 1, 850,000 tons of beef, equivalent to 19.60% of the world’s total beef exports.