BRASILIA, Brazil – Brazil’s efforts to adopt halal standards and other quality control regulations is expected to drive the country’s meat export volumes to the Middle East, according to albawaba.com citing a report from the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.

Meat accounted for the biggest increase in Brazilian exports between January and August, with a value of more than $554 million. This represents 45 percent increase from the comparable period in 2011.

The value of all imports from Brazil totaled more than $6.6 billion between January to August, according to the report. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates were the top importers.