IFA moves to allay cattle price fears

THE decision by Brussels to place 106 Brazilian farms on a list for beef exports to the EU will have no impact on cattle prices here, as the volume will be no more than 2,000 tonnes, the Irish Farmers Association predicted yesterday.

IFA president Padraig Walshe advised farmers not to heed factory agents, who use, he said, every opportunity to talk down cattle prices. He said the volume of product affected by the European Commission decision is negligible and is less than 1% of the 330,000 tonnes of beef imported from Brazil in 2006 and 2007.

“Nothing has changed in Brazil — the deficiencies still exist and their standards do not meet EU requirements,” he said.

IFA Livestock Committee chairman Michael Doran said prior to the IFA campaign, Brazil was exporting beef from 10,000-15,000 farms to Europe.

Meanwhile, the commission’s decision to permit beef imports from 106 farms in Brazil a mere four weeks after banning all such imports defies belief, the Dáil was told yesterday. Kerry North Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris said the ban was imposed in response to overwhelming evidence Brazilian beef producers were not meeting the standards expected of EU farmers.

“It defies belief therefore that those standards have been attained in a matter of weeks. He urged Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan to seek the re-imposition of the ban.