China’s meat importers worry about delays as key port runs COVID-19 tests
BEIJING, June 17 (Reuters) – China’s meat importers fear clearing delays and a hit to demand after one of the country’s major ports started requiring COVID-19 tests for all meat and seafood containers to prevent contamination from the coronavirus that causes the disease.
Tianjin port on the northern coast began testing batches from every single arriving container on Monday, said two importers and an official briefed on the matter.
Tianjin port and customs officials did not respond to calls seeking comments.
China is the world’s top meat importer and many meat exporting nations like the United States and Brazil have seen thousands of cases of coronavirus among meat plant workers.
Authorities usually conduct food safety tests on a random sample of about 10% of frozen meat shipments, said Grace Gao, manager at Dalian-based meat importer Goldrich International.
Now, every container is opened and boxes pulled out for COVID-19 tests, she said.
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