Crackdown on foreign meat ahead of Easter
The government yesterday imposed restrictions on the import and classification of meat as prefectural officials intensified inspections on meat traders to curb the number of foreign lamb and goats reaching Greek tables ahead of Orthodox Easter next month. Mindful of the traditional hike in meat imports ahead of Easter, Deputy Agriculture Minister Alexandros Kontos imposed a series of restrictions. The state veterinary service will only issue permits for the import of live lamb and goats to slaughterhouses with appropriate stables who will be obliged to record the country of origin of their animals. Meanwhile, state inspectors confiscated nearly 50 kilos of Dutch meat which, they claimed, had been due to be sold as Greek. A batch of 13.5 kilos of pork seized from a Piraeus butcher had borne a Dutch stamp. The rest of the confiscated meat had not been stamped.
