In recent weeks several Brazilians have received unsolicited and unidentified seeds supposedly from China, leading the Chinese Embassy to issue a statement. It said on Thursday (1) that seeds are items that are prohibited from being sent by post, that China respects this prohibition that there are signs of fraud on the product shipping labels.
Representatives from China will cooperate with Brazilian authorities on the investigations.
“We learned from a note from the Ministry of Agriculture and from the press that Brazilians from different parts of the country have received packages containing plant seeds and that some of these packages carry labels with Chinese characters,” wrote the Chinese embassy in a note.
The Ministry of Agriculture is investigating seeds mainly from China and delivered to different addresses throughout Brazil. The packages are sent by mail as gifts for other purchases made over the internet or even randomly, without the recipient having requested anything abroad.
The material is being analyzed by technicians, who must investigate the origin and nature of the seeds. As they may be of species not yet introduced in the country, they can become weeds, and represent a danger of spreading insects and even diseases.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon