The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry stated today that the certification of FaialSlaughterhouse with the food quality and safety standard is another contribution to the promotion of the Azores meat and the development of the sector.

“This certification brings added responsibility to Faial Slaughterhouse as well as more confidence to economic operators, more visibility and enhanced food safety,” João Ponte said, adding that it has economic advantages for all agents in the meat sector.

The government official spoke at the certification ceremony of Faial slaughterhouse with the ISO 22000 standard. On the occasion, he highlighted the large investment made by the Regional Government in the current legislative term in the modernisation of the regional slaughter network, including the construction of the new Faial slaughterhouse, and the focus on certification. According to him, they allow us to "place ourselves at a different level in the eyes of the markets and operators" and to respond to "increasingly demanding consumers who value this type of certification."

Speaking to journalists, João Ponte stressed that the regional meat sector is now much better, recalling the very significant production growth.

“In the specific case of Faial, we found that the number of slaughtered animals has doubled over the last four years and, as a result of the investment made in the slaughterhouse, there has been a significant growth in the number of slaughtered animals in the last two years,especially for export,” said the Regional Secretary. Additionally, the export of live animals has been declining, which generates more income for producers.

The Secretary for Agriculture stated that there are still challenges to overcome in order to further strengthen the meat sector, which involves cutting more meat in the Azores,improving the conformity of carcasses, supplying meat on a regular basis to markets and improving organisation.