Report backs up beef findings, says IFA

THE latest European Union Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) report on Brazilian beef production confirms the findings of a recent IFA investigation, the farm body claimed yesterday.

According to the FVO report, most of the deficiencies found during its previous mission in 2003 have still not been rectified and many of the promised actions by the Brazilian authorities did not happen.

It referred to a lack of testing for residues of the many veterinary medicines unauthorised for use in food producing animals in the EU but freely available for use in Brazilian livestock production.

The FVO report stated that this lack of testing, individually and cumulatively, undermines confidence in the residue status of several commodities exported to the EU.

IFA Livestock Committee chairman John Bryan said a lack of farm level standards and unacceptable practices which his association found during a recent mission to Brazil fall far short of what would be acceptable in the EU.

He said the IFA findings are borne out in the FVO report. Mr Bryan said based on these extremely serious findings the EU Commission has no option but to totally ban all fresh beef imports from Brazil.

Mr Bryan said it is clear the standards in Brazil are not acceptable to the Food and Drinks Administration (FDA) in the US.

However, the difference between the US and the EU is that the US has totally banned fresh Brazilian beef imports as they do not come up to standard, he said.