Brazil meat scandal not an issue at EU-Mercosur talks - minister

A member of the Public Health Surveillance Agency collects sausages to analyse in the laboratory, at a supermarket in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's Trade Minister Marcos Pereira said on Tuesday that the problem of a corruption scandal uncovered at a few Brazilian meatpackers will not be discussed at this week's meeting of European Union negotiators with the Mercosur trade bloc in Buenos Aires.

The European Union curtailed meat imports from Brazil on Monday after police accused inspectors in the world's biggest exporter of beef and poultry of taking bribes to allow sales of rotten and salmonella-tainted meats. The scandal came at a sensitive moment as the EU and Mercosur sit down to negotiate lowering trade barriers.