Vet Syndicate claims foul play on Halal meat certificate decision: The Egyptian Veterinarians Syndicate’s Food Safety Committee has submitted a formal request to the prosecutor-general and Administrative Control Authority to investigate the Agriculture Ministry’s decision to limit the acceptance of halal meat certificates from Latin America exclusively to the Egyptian Islamic Company (IS EG), according to the local press. The committee is alleging corruption after the decision effectively granted IS EG a monopoly and resulted in the company hiking its fees 300%. The ministry’s decision has caused diplomatic tension with Brazil, one of our major meat exporters who would be forced to export less Brazilian beef. Brazilian beef exporters have also been lobbying to scrap the halal meat certificate decision.