Brazil Confused on Dealing with Japan Radiation While Embassy in Lybia Runs Out of Money

Nuclear signBrazilian representatives of the National Atomic Energy Commission, the Food and Drug Administration (Anvisa) and the ministries of Agriculture and Health have set up a board that will examine food products imported from Japan to ensure they are not contaminated by radiation.

Anvisa agents will collect samples in ports and airports and send them to nuclear commission labs located in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. A spokesperson for Anvisa says the analysis should be rapid and that the type of products from Japan are limited to ingredients for bakery goods.

Another step being taken to protect Brazilians from radiation is a series of restrictions on goods from the area near the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Those goods will have to be certified by the Japanese government as to quality.

“The chances of contaminated food products reaching Brazil is slight,” says Denise Resende, of Anvisa. “We don’t buy much in the line of food products from Japan and Japanese authorities have prohibited the export of items from the area around the power plant where it is believed radiation is escaping.”

However, contrary to Anvisa, the union of federal farm product inspectors (Sindicato Nacional dos Fiscais Federais Agropecuários) released a note on Monday, March 28, complaining about a lack of clear rules and norms for dealing with products from Japan. The union says they expect ships to arrive around April 11 and their members do not have equipment to measure radiation.

The union also says that products from Japan are arriving regularly in Brazil at the port of Santos. “Differently from what Anvisa says, we get a lot more than ingredients for bakery goods. Every week we receive rice, beverages, such as sake, along with mushrooms and dried marine algae from Japan,” says a note from the union of inspectors.

Embassy in Libya Shortchanged

The Brazilian embassy in Tripoli has become a victim of United Nations sanctions against the Libya of Col. Muammar Gadafi.

The sanctions, citing excessive regime brutality, were approved by the UN Security Council on February 27. They prohibit banking transactions with Libya and, in an unusual move, refer that country to the International Criminal Court.

The only other time that has happened was in 2005, when the Security Council referred Sudan to the ICC.

The Brazilian embassy in Tripoli receives money from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry through a Banco do Brasil branch in New York. Under the terms of the Security Council sanctions, no bank in the United States will transfer funds to Libya.

As a result, the embassy has run out of money and the ambassador, George Ney de Souza Fernandes is now the only Brazilian diplomat still in the country and has reported serious problems in keeping the embassy open. The rest of the staff was sent to Italy.

The Ministry of Foreign Relations, Itamaraty, says it is sending a courier with money to the embassy. For security reasons, they did not release any further details.

ABr

Tags:

You May Also Like

Worried with Their Survival Brazilian Indians Blockade Railroad in the Amazon

Members of Brazil’s Awá tribe have blockaded a railroad owned by Vale mining company ...

Brazil Resigned to Lose World Leadership in Beef, After Cattle Disease

The presence of hoof and mouth disease in a cattle herd in the state ...

Waiting, Waiting for a Doctor in Rio

The Brazilian Institute for Social Welfare is relatively serious about  what it proposes to ...

Brazil to Sell Fish to World’s Largest Fish Producer

Brazil may export fish to China and thus extend the market beyond what is ...

Group Urges U.S. Congress to Punish Brazil for Piracy

Defenders of Property Rights today submitted a letter calling on the U.S. House of ...

TAM Partners with NHT and Offers Flights to 81 Cities in Brazil

A commercial agreement signed between Brazilian airline TAM and the regional company NHT will ...

Brazil Can Save US$ 600 Million in 5 Years by Copycating Patented AIDS Drugs

Brazil has the developing world’s most successful AIDS/HIV treatment and prevention program. Its operation ...

Brazil Wants Google to Cough Up or Leave the Country

Brazil’s Justice Department wants to fine and if needed to close the Brazilian bureau ...

Brazil’s WSF Splits for Anti-Liberal Planetary Fight

Next year’s World Social Forum (WSF), which is now taking place in Brazil, will ...

Brazilian Congress Might Consider Lula’s Impeachment

Brazil’s ruling party, the PT (Workers’ Party) was shaken by accusations that it bribed ...