EU bans Brazilian beef

The EU has today agreed to temporarily ban imports of Brazilian beef, pending the compilation of a list of farms in the country that comply with EU regulations and standards.

The ban will come into force tomorrow. This follows the partial ban on Brazilian beef, from a preliminary list of approved farms.

“This can change in the next few days,” said EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou. “But yes as of January 31 the will be no list.”

Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA) president Malcolm Thompson has welcomed the full ban.

“ICSA has always maintained that restrictions were inadequate and nothing but a full ban was ever going to be enough, until the Brazilians produce beef to EU standards,” he said.

“This week, the Brazilians submitted a list of over 2,000 farms which they claim were qualified to export beef to the EU, However, the EU were very suspicious, as they were only expecting a list of about 200 – 300 farms.

“In response, they have banned all imports of beef from Brazil from this Friday, February 1. It is, however, expected that the Brazilians will submit a reduced list in the near future and this ban may be only temporary.”