Montenegro Customs announced on September 25 that it had stopped a container of expired frozen beef at the Port of Tivat, destined for the company "Apetit SHPK" from Kosovo.
This container, according to the announcement, contained over 24 tons of total weight of meat, distributed in around 1,300 packages.
According to Montenegrin authorities, the meat's expiration date had expired on May 14 of this year.
In a reaction to the case, the Food and Veterinary Agency (AUVA) said that the company Apetit has been subject to strict control measures since September 18.
"Despite this, as of September 18, the FVA immediately initiated a detailed inspection. The business has been under continuous surveillance since the date of the start of the inspections. The new information received today will be included and supplemented by the full inspection in the future," she said.
The AUV said it has ordered full traceability of products imported by Apetit, including verification of origin and import documents, quantities imported and distributed, and product destinations.
The agency added that it had previously taken samples for analysis, while each operator's shipment is being subjected to additional checks at the border. At the same time, the inspectorate is checking the quantities of products in the warehouse and those placed on the market.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has contacted the company "Apetiti SHPK" for comment on this matter, but has not received a response by the time of publication of this article.
This is the second case reported by Montenegrin customs authorities, following the previous detention of three containers of beef, with a gross weight of approximately 77.8 tons.
In the previous case, according to Montenegrin Customs, "the original labels indicating the expiration date had been removed and replaced with labels indicating a different expiration date."
According to Customs, the meat from these three containers will be destroyed after the completion of legal procedures. In the first seven months of this year alone, over 50 million euros of beef and chicken were imported into Kosovo from Brazil.
Meanwhile, the European Union has imposed import restrictions on some animal exports from Brazil since September 3. The reason is related to EU rules on the use of antimicrobials in animals that end up in the food chain. /REL/
