This is a golden opportunity for Pakistan to benefit from the vacuum. It will also promote halal meat exports, observes FPCCI body Chief.

Chairman, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Standing Committee on Horticulture, Ahmad Jawad in a statement here on Wednesday, maintained that a host of Brazilian meat buyers in the world had either banned or reduced the import of Brazilian meat after getting information that Brazilian meat-packers did not meat quality and hygienic standards.

The main buyers of Brazilian meat were China, Chile, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and European Union, he said.

Meat is the third largest export of Brazil, after soy and iron ore. The country sold beef and poultry products worth $ 12.6 billion in 2016, he said.

"We can tap the buyers through effective planning and support of the government as Pakistan has the potential of 159 million livestock," he asserted.

Although Pakistan sold a good quantity of beef and mutton to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, yet it could not export these to China, which is a big buyer. Likewise, poultry, which forms the bulk of meat imports in the region, was left untapped by Pakistan.

Ahmed Jawad mentioned that Pakistan had surplus production of poultry over last five to seven years but the country did not export its poultry.

For qualifying as poultry exporters, he recommended, Pakistan's poultry farmers and traders would have to maintain hygiene, and quarantine standards along with accreditation by the relevant government agencies.