Brasília, 4/13/2004 (Agência Brasil) - An animal and plant inspection team from Japan arrived in Brazil this week to examine sanitation conditions in the country. The Japanese are studying the possibility of increasing purchases of cooked and frozen meat from Brazil.

Last year Japan imported 188,000 tons of Brazilian meats: chicken, in natura and industrialized, along with beef, pork and other poultry. That was an increase of 13% over 2002, and was worth US$242.5 million.

On Wednesday the Japanese mission will visit slaughterhouses in the South and Central-West regions. Next week they will return to Brasilia for talks with authorities at the Ministry of Agriculture.

Translator: Allen Bennett