MOSCOW – Starting June 15, Russia will ban imports from 85 Brazilian beef plants, according to Bloomberg. JBS SA, Marfrig Alimentos SA and BRF - Brasil Foods SA plants are among companies included in the ban. However, both JBS SA and Marfrig plan to continue exporting to Russia by using plants not included in the ban, including some outside Brazil, according to agrimoney.com

According to a June 2 statement on its website, Russia temporarily banned imports from plants in the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso, Rio Grande do Sul and Parana, a sanitary authority said. The authority added in a separate statement on the website that 29 Brazilian producers were inspected and their agriculture safety controls were found to be weak. Russia also restricted purchases of beef and pork from eight Brazilian meatpackers in April due to sanitary issues.


Russia’s statements came after the announcement by Russian food-safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor of the ban, and the ban was imposed following inspections that had had shown shortcomings in monitoring for toxins such as mercury and dioxins. More than 260 consignments of meat did not meet Russian requirements on measures such aslisteriaandsalmonella, or contamination with traces of listed antibiotics, agrimoney.com added.