EU under pressure to ban Brazilian beef

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

Euro-MPs have been demanding swift action in the face of growing concern about Foot and Mouth Disease in Brazilian cattle.

But EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou told the European Parliament that he was giving Brazil until the end of the year to improve beef quality standards before considering blocking the beef trade with the EU.

Conservative Euro-MP and farmer Neil Parish said the response was not good enough and accused the Commissioner of treating Foot and Mouth in Brazilian beef with less seriousness than in European herds.

“The Commissioner did not really get the point MEPs and farmers’ organisations have been making – that Brazilian farmers are being allowed to get away with practices that would cause a European farm to be shut down” said Mr Parish.

“The commissioner has given Brazil until the end of the year to show significant improvements in traceability and quality control of their beef. I fear the European Commission is still allowing politics to get in the way of what should be a simple decision made on the basis of safety and equity for European farmers.

“We are fed up with being fobbed off by the Commission over this important matter. We need action sooner rather than later. I have invited the commissioner back at the end of the year to give us an update on the actions he intends to take.”

Euro-MPs have been pressing the Commission for immediate action since a joint investigation into the state of the Brazilian beef market by the Irish Farmers’ Association and the Irish Farmers’ Journal.

It found failure to tag or trace animals, failure to administer vaccines, and failure to prevent livestock being taken across regional and national borders.

He pointed out that the UK authorities and the Commission acted swiftly to control the recent FMD outbreak in Surrey, ensuring a temporary beef ban lasted only a fortnight.

But the evidence of lax health and safety measures in Brazil has not prompted a firm EU crackdown: “It is wrong both to consumers and farmers to force our own producers to comply with these standards while turning a blind eye to substandard products from Brazil.”