Second container with hospital waste seized in Pernambuco.
The shipment, which came from the United States and is being analyzed by Anvisa (Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency), is the second one identified this week at the Port of Suape.
The Brazilian Federal Revenue Service seized another container today from the United States containing hospital waste, which is being analyzed by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), at the Port of Suape, in the metropolitan municipality of Ipojuca (PE). This was the second seizure this week: on Tuesday, the 11th, a first container was seized, containing 23 tons of hospital waste, including soiled sheets, syringes, used gloves, and catheters.
The two containers were shipped from the Port of Charleston (USA) and imported by a company from the municipality of Santa Cruz do Capibaribe, an area within the Pernambuco textile hub. According to the chief inspector of customs at the Federal Revenue Service in the Port of Suape, Carlos Eduardo da Costa Oliveira, eight containers arrived at the Port of Suape this year, brought by the importing company. Six of them passed through customs without inspection. The documentation for the cargo in the two seized containers indicated that they contained "defective fabrics".
The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Police have been called in to investigate the case. The importing company, whose name is being kept confidential, will face charges for several infractions. According to the Federal Revenue Service, it will face charges for false declaration of contents and the crime of smuggling – the merchandise is prohibited from entering the country. According to ANVISA (Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency), it will face charges for sanitary violations and crimes against public health.
"We are going to track the other six containers that passed through without inspection, find out what the product was, if it really went to Santa Cruz do Capibaribe, and what was done with it," noted Costa Oliveira, adding that the company will forfeit the illegal merchandise. According to him, it has not yet been decided whether the waste will be returned to the United States or destroyed.
The exporter will also be punished. "The Federal Police and the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office will still meet to decide how this will be done," said the chief inspector. In 2009, 740 tons of hospital waste from England unloaded at the Port of Rio Grande (RS) were returned to the European country.