The Slovak agency Roko, a supplier of the Slovak hospitality house in Rio de Janeiro, smuggled sheep cheese or 'bryndza' and poppy seeds to Brazil, said Alexander Linczény, the director of the agency. Exports of sheep cheese is limited as it is a non-pasteurized product containing many pathogenic substances which could cause various diseases. Moreover, poppy seeds are illegal in most parts of the world, as it is used for the preparation of opium. Therefore, it is considered a mild drug. These ingredients are necessary for the preparation of some of the traditional Slovak dishes, such as Sheep cheese noodles and poppy seed noodles, served in the Slovak house. "We managed to bring the sheep cheese, because we declared as a different item, particularly as lard. We needed 30 kilogrammes of poppy seeds and declared it as whole grained flour," said Linczény.

In an interview for the Pravda daily, the head of the Slovak house, Peter Praženka, recently talked about difficulties with importing some groceries to Brazil. However, he claimed that the Slovak delegation managed to obtain all necessary permits. "We do not have any official information regarding these allegations," commented the Slovak Education Ministry, which hired the Roko agency. The Slovak Olympic committee did not want to comment on the case. The Slovak Customs Office and Police will probably not deal with the case. According to the Slovak Financial Administration, the situation should be solved by the country where the goods were imported: Brazil

Gavin Shoebridge Foto: SITA