Rio de Janeiro, March 24 (RHC-Xinhua) -- Several countries have announced a temporary suspension of Brazilian meat imports, following a scandal involving adulterated meat, the governmental news agency Agencia Brasil said on Thursday.

Among the countries are South Korea, Japan, Chile, Egypt, Panama and Mexico, as well as the European Union. Some have announced suspension of all Brazilian meat imports, while others decided to suspend only the imports originated from the meatpackers being investigated for adulterating the meat.

The suspension followed last week's announcement by police of an investigation into 31 meatpacking companies, which reportedly adulterated expired meat to sell it and had paid federal inspectors to turn a blind eye.

A major meat producer and exporter, Brazil sells meat, poultry and pork to over 150 countries. But sales, which before the scandal averaged 63 million dollars per day, have fallen to 74,000 dollars.

The largest importer of Brazilian meat, China said it was highly concerned and that Chinese authorities have taken "temporary measures" in response.