Chile, South Korea and the European Union have joined China in announcing partial or complete temporary suspensions of meat imports from Brazil

Chile, South Korea and the European Union have joined China in announcing partial or complete temporary suspensions of meat imports from Brazil on Monday, after the country's federal police announced last Friday an investigation to dismantle a corruption scheme involving public inspectors and employees at meat companies.The Brazilian federal government suspended exports from 21 food plants under investigation, as it tries to avoid larger embargoes by importers.The government released a list of the 21 plants investigated on Monday, located in Paraná, Santa Catarina and Goiás states. The list includes JBS' poultry processing unit Seara Alimentos in Lapa (Paraná state).Three of the plants under investigation were temporarily closed by the government on Friday: BRF's poultry unit located in Mineiros (Goiás state), and two meat processing units of Peccin Agro Industrial in Jaraguá do Sul (Santa Catarina) and Curitiba (Paraná).Brazilian Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi told journalists late Monday that the federal police was “alarmist” in its statements about the investigation, and that the government's sanitary processes are robust and reliable.“Our system is working, it's very strong, rigid and predictable. What happened was the deviation of some people in the process, and these people were removed,” he told journalists.The Brazilian government removed 33 employees from their duties on Friday evening, after the federal police released data about the probe.Brazilian meat industry associations ABPA and ABIEC also condemned on Monday “generalizations” by the federal police statements, adding that the plants under investigation represent a minimal fraction of the Brazilian animal protein industry.China temporarily stopped Brazilian meat products from being unloaded on Monday, until it receives further clarification from the Brazilian government about the investigations.The European Union has suspended meat purchases from four plants selling products to the region. Minister Maggi didn't say which processing facilities were banned from exporting to Europe, but BRF's unit in Mineiros and JBS' in Lapa are among plants that have exported meat products to Europe in the past, according to the list supplied by the Ministry of Agriculture.South Korea suspended purchases from BRF, according to the minister.Chile's Agriculture Minister Carlos Furche said Brazilian meat purchases are suspended until the government releases more information on the investigations, according to a press release posted on the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture website.BRF said in a statement early Monday afternoon that it had not received official notification from Brazilian or foreign authorities regarding the suspension of exports from its plants.