HONG KONG/SEOUL -- The scandal over tainted meat from Brazil is shaking up Asian markets that have come to depend on the South American country's plentiful exports. Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China have each suspended imports, while South Korean restaurants and stores have dropped Brazilian meat from their offerings.

Brazil, already one of the world's top meat exporters, had been gaining ground in Asian markets, especially with avian flu hitting local chicken supplies and with worries over a 2012 mad cow outbreak in Brazil receding. But Brazilian authorities said last week that they had gathered evidence that some meat producers had bribed government officials to allow the shipment of spoiled meat and that expired meat was sold on after being treated with acid to mask the smell of decay.

Hong Kong officials and companies sought to reassure the public by preemptively stopping sales of Brazilian meat and products using it. The city's Centre for Food Safety on Tuesday announced the suspension of all meat imports from Brazil "in view of the fact that the quality of the meat exported from Brazil is in question, for the sake of prudence."

Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing-man on Wednesday said that some 30% of Hong Kong's meat comes from Brazil. Other officials said that five of the 21 companies under investigation in Brazil for exporting bad meat had sent shipments to Hong Kong.

Local media reported that food retailers had pulled Brazilian meat from store shelves. Major local restaurant operators also said they would stop using such products, with the result that some are temporarily suspending signature dishes, such as fast food chain Cafe de Coral's baked pork chop with rice and rival Fairwood's barbecue pork with rice. KFC local shops also reportedly suspended some chicken dishes.

According to Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Industries figures, Hong Kong was the country's top beef market last year, taking 300,510 tons, billed at $1.15 billion. The Brazilian Animal Protein Association reported that Hong Kong was Brazil's second-largest pork export market in 2016. A large portion of Hong Kong's meat imports are traded on to other regional markets.

Macau is one such secondary market. On Wednesday, the Macau Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau suspended all Brazilian meat imports. A meat seller quoted in Macau Business Daily estimated that Brazilian meat accounts for 40% of the local market due to its low price. "The ban will have a large impact on restaurant businesses and even the public if the ban lasts more than one month," said Vincent Ip Chio Fai, director of Van Key Hong Group.

As one of the largest importers of Brazilian meat products, mainland China was the fastest to react among Asian nations. Beijing authorities banned all meat imports from Brazil on Monday for now. Similarly to Hong Kong, local reports indicate that some supermarket chains have removed all meat products from the South American country from their shelves.

Hua Chunying, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, stressed on Tuesday and reemphasized on Wednesday that the ban was to "protect the safety of the Chinese domestic consumers" and was "a preventive and provisional step." Commerce department spokesman Sun Jiwen followed up at a Thursday press briefing that Beijing is "deeply concerned" on the meat quality issue.

China last year narrowly trailed the European Union to be Brazil's No. 3 beef market, worth $706.3 million, according to the Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Industries. China Daily reported last year that Brazil had become the country's top source of beef imports, overtaking Australia. The country had suspended beef imports from Brazil between 2012 and 2015 over mad cow cases.

Pork imports from Brazil have also grown rapidly, rising from 5,200 tons in 2015 to 87,600 tons last year, according to the Brazilian Animal Protein Association, making China the country's No. 3 export market for the meat.

Local replacements

Concerns are rising in South Korea as well. Food companies and fast food chains are replacing Brazilian chicken with local supplies or suspending sales of their products.

CJ CheilJedang, a local food processor, said that it has stopped production since Monday of its chicken nugget products which are sourced from Brazil.

"We stopped production of it tentatively to calm consumers' worries. We are waiting for results of safety tests conducted by our quality management center," said Choi Min-soo, a spokesman for the company.

KFC's local operations said that they stopped using Brazilian chickens from Thursday, replacing them with South Korean ones. "As the Brazilian meat issue is becoming more serious, we decided to change it with local products," said Jeong Hye-yeon, a manager at KFC's Gwanghwamun outlet in downtown Seoul.

But she said the price remains the same at 3,200 won ($2.9) a piece.

Moms' Touch, a local burger chain, said that it suspended sales of three items using Brazilian chicken. "We decided to stop sales of Sugar Chicken, Cajun Chicken and Chicken Combo, considering consumers' concerns on Brazilian chicken scandal," said the company in a statement.

Local media reported that food retailers E-Mart, Homeplus and Lotte Mart all halted sales of Brazilian chicken on Tuesday

South Korea's official suspension of exports only covered one Brazilian company and only lasted a day before being waived when officials received confirmation the country had apparently not been the destination of any contaminated products.

According to data from the food ministry, chicken imports from Brazil reached $157.1 million last year, accounting for 88.9% of total imports. The Brazilian Animal Protein Association said in January that it was in the final stages of opening the South Korean market to its pork.

On the other hand, Singapore sought to dismiss safety concerns though the city-state imports heavily from Brazil.

The Singapore Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said Monday that it had stepped up checks of Brazilian meat imports and was working with importers to line up alternative sources if the situation worsens. The agency declared that none of the 21 companies under investigation in Brazil currently have been approved for export to Singapore.

Taiwan, another market dependent on meat imports, appears unaffected as it has suspended imports from Brazil since 2011.

Thailand, however, could emerge as a major beneficiary as one of the largest exporters of chicken, with affected countries looking for alternative imports.

Investment bank Nomura said in a Thursday note that it had given Charoen Pokphand Foods, the dominant Thai producer of chicken meat, a "buy" rating with a target price of 37 baht ($1.07). Its share price has risen over 5% this week, closing at 29.25 baht.

Nikkei deputy editor Kenji Kawase in Hong Kong contributed to this story.