Romania Says Imported Over 100 Tonnes of Possibly Tainted Irish Pork

A cold storage facility in the western county of Cluj imported a total of 40 tonnes of Irish pork between September 30 and November 21, ANSV said in a statement. Only 4,373 tonnes of the meat were located and will be impounded. The rest of the meat has been distributed in 24 counties across Romania.

ANSV also said another 70 tonnes were imported over the same period in Bucharest and in the southern county of Prahova and the southwestern county of Valcea. ANSV inspectors are spot-checking the storage facilities that had imported Irish pork that may have been tainted.

Ireland confirmed officially on Tuesday that meat in three of its farms contained the cancer-causing dioxin, which prompted many countries to pull Irish pork meat products from their markets.

The European Union said later in the day that all the 27 member states would have to block the Irish pork meat imports to avoid dioxin contamination.