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.

CONSUMERS are moving closer to eating meat, milk and cheese from cloned animals, with EU proposals on how they could be approved and authorised for sale.

THE European Union has denied that yesterday’s last-minute postponement of a new policy on healthcare abroad was an “embarrassing climbdown”.

SEVERE restrictions on beef imports from Brazil are expected to be agreed by the European Commission as early as next week.

THE European Commission has approved a financial package of €186.57 million to support programmes to eradicate, control and monitor animal diseases, including BSE, avian flu, blue tongue and rabies in 2008.

A EU-wide ban on the “appalling” trade in cat and dog fur has today been approved by European governments.

THE European Commission yesterday rejected claims by the Irish Farmers’ Association that it had covered up a report on issues relating to Brazilian beef exports.

THE Bush administration is coming under increasing pressure to open up the United States market to Irish and European beef.

The European Commission was under fire tonight for refusing to impose an immediate ban on Brazilian beef imports into the European Union.

The bluetongue virus that affects goats, sheep and cattle is spreading fast through Europe and may become permanent in many countries, the EU’s top public health official said today.

IFA National Livestock Committee Chairman John Bryan has welcomed the view expressed by Professor Patrick Wall, the Chairman of the European Food Safety Authority, that “concerns raised by the IFA about imports of Brazilian beef into the EU are reasonable as similar standards must apply for EU and non-EU producers if consumers’ health is to be adequately protected”.

FURTHER changes are to be made by the European Commission to the control regime for BSE as the incidence of the disease declines, not alone in Ireland but throughout the EU.

THE livelihoods of 100,000 livestock farmers are at risk from Brazilian beef imports, the Irish Farmers’ Association claimed during a protest outside the European Commission offices in Dublin yesterday.

EUROPEAN farmers this week united behind IFA’s efforts to have Brazilian beef imports banned in the EU.

THE English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX) has agreed with the country’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), that the zebu gene must no longer appear in any beef or beef products that carries the Quality Standard Mark.

European Commission chiefs today rebutted Irish farmers’ demands for an EU ban on Brazilian beef imports.

The European Commission was urged today to step up efforts across Europe to fight hospital superbugs.

THE European Union’s health chief proposed an EU-wide organ donor card yesterday after a survey showed most Europeans support using such cards but only 12% actually carry one.

THE Irish Farmers’ Association claimed yesterday that a mission to Brazil in which it took part has produced evidence which proves there is a total lack of effective controls and standards in that country’s beef sector.

A NEW directive on welfare conditions for broiler chickens proposed by the European Commission has been accepted by the Council of Agricultural Ministers, with certain modifications.

THE Irish are Europe’s biggest binge drinkers and even increasing the price of alcohol by 25% would not make them drink less, claims an EU-wide survey.

THE European Commission is to establish an emergency veterinary team to respond rapidly, if needed, in member states and third countries.

MIGRATING wild birds are still seen as the most likely source of avian flu being introduced to Ireland.

Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan is expected to brief her Cabinet colleagues today on the steps being taken in Ireland following an outbreak of bird flu in Britain.

Ireland and Russia today banned imports of British poultry and eggs, and farmers elsewhere in Europe took steps to shield their flocks from the possible spread of deadly bird flu from an infected British turkey farm.

Poultry farmers around Europe were on guard today against the possible spread of bird flu across the North Sea from infected Britain, fearing the disease could be carried by wild birds.

European Union veterinary experts today agreed to tighten rules on the import of live birds into the 27-nation bloc.

NEW European Union rules on animal welfare in transport, which came into force yesterday, aim to reduce stress and harm to animals during land and sea journeys.

PSYCHOLOGICALLY, the Irish are a healthy nation, with depression or anxiety rarely affecting their work or social life.

IRISH people have become smaller and fatter in the past three years, gaining weight despite 25% being on a diet, according to the latest survey of food and obesity.

Fifty-five million European adults are drinking dangerous amounts of alcohol, the European Commission warned today.

WORLD Mental Health Day recently afforded an opportunity for many people to focus on a growing problem.

The European Commission said today it may sue Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Spain unless they promise within two months to properly enforce an EU ban on tobacco advertising that was adopted in 2003.

EUROPEAN Union Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection Markos Kyprianou, who is on a four-day visit to Brazil, has been urged by the Irish Farmers Association to tell the authorities there that beef exports which fail to meet EU standards are not acceptable.

A senior EU official has been summoned before an Oireachtas Committee amid growing concerns about unregulated Brazilian meat being sold in Irish shops.

The European Union announced today that all rice imported from the United States will have to be certified to prove it does not contain an unauthorised genetically-modified strain.

FINE Gael wants the EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection Markos Kyprianou to attend a meeting of the Dáil Agriculture and Food Committee next month to discuss Brazilian beef imports.

Simpler European rules for approving food additives, flavourings and enzymes were proposed by the European Commission today.

THE European Union yesterday called for a crackdown on mini-motorbikes, claiming the machines pose a serious risk to users, notably children, because most of the imported bikes do not meet European safety standards.

THE importance which the Irish Government places on consumer rights can be very simply measured by its representation at a recent conference in Brussels dealing with those same rights.

TANNING yourself in a sunbed or solarium is as dangerous as lying in the hot sun, scientists have warned.

European Union experts in Belgium today warned that sunbeds and tanning lamps were likely to increase the risk of skin cancer and recommended a ban on their use by children and other people at high risk.

The animal cruelty video that makes Heather Mills McCartney cry has finally triggered a Chinese government pledge to stamp out the trade in cat and dog fur, it emerged today.

THE gap between obesity levels in the US and the EU is closing rapidly with campaigns encouraging people to eat healthily and exercise more having little effect.