The authorities in Hong Kong have given permission for imports of beef from six slaughterhouses in Portugal, Lusa reports.

The Portuguese news agency quotes the Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture as announcing on Wednesday that the six slaughterhouses passed inspections by the Hong Kong authorities during a mission to Portugal last October.

The report says three of the slaughterhouses are near Lisbon, two in southern Portugal’s Alentejo region and one in northern Portugal.

The Portuguese Food and Veterinary General Administration announced in late February that the Chinese authorities allow their Portuguese counterparts to inspect on their behalf slaughterhouses in Portugal that export pork to Mainland China.

In January the Ministry said Chinese authorities had permitted five more Portuguese slaughterhouses to export pork to Mainland China, taking the total number to nine.