Brazilian Failure To Comply With EU Standards

IREALAND - IFA President Padraig Walshe has said the Brazilian ambassador to Ireland has failed to address the facts on the failure of Brazil to meet EU standards as highlighted in the latest EU Commission Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) report on Brazil published earlier this month.

27 November 2007

3 minute read

Europe

Mr Walshe said the report contains irrefutable evidence that Brazilian beef imports fail to meet EU standards on the critical animal health and consumer issues of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and traceability.

He said, “the report vindicates IFA’s own findings and our insistence that there should be a total ban on all Brazilian beef imports into Europe. The ambassador’s contention that de-boning and maturing Brazilian beef eliminates the FMD virus is simply not correct. FMD is endemic in Brazil and the eminent academic and veterinary consultant Dr Kevin Dodd has stated that ‘this is a poor last line of defence against the inadvertent risk of importation of meat containing FMD virus’.”

Padraig Walshe said “it is very important that Irish and European consumers are fully aware of the fact that Brazilian beef fails to meet EU production standards. In addition, it exposes the EU to the unnecessary risk of FMD.

The FVO report stated “the absence of a programme to monitor the efficacy of vaccination in 2007 jeopardises future certification of beef”. It added that the shortcomings identified in 2006 “have not been satisfactorily addressed” and warned “it cannot be excluded that such outbreaks (FMD) are under reported”. The report highlighted that the vaccination scheme recommended was not followed.

At several holdings visited by the FVO in Brazil, more animals were registered in the official SISBOV database than were present on the holdings. The quality of eartags was inadequate, individual identification was illegible and a high percentage of eartags was lost. Clearly, Brazil does not provide the assurances European consumers expect.

Padraig Walshe pointed out that the United States has not had an FMD outbreak since 1929. This is precisely because the US adopts a much stricter bio-security approach and refuses to accept high-risk fresh beef imports from countries such as Brazil. A number of countries including Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea also insist on these high standards.

The IFA President said, “the reality is that the so-called Brazilian treaceabiility and movement control system is a failure. The FVO found “meat from an animal declared non-EU eligible formed part of a consignment exported to the EU.”

In Brazil, the EU only requires animals to be present in an EU-approved state for 90 days and on the farm of dispatch for 40 days prior to slaughter. In Europe, the EU accepts nothing less than full traceability from birth to slaughter.

Padraig Walshe said there is severe social and environmental damage associated with Brazilian beef production, which is totally ignored by those promoting this trade, including retailers, but it is clearly documented. The UN Commission on Human Rights has reported on the worker exploitation and slave labour problem on Brazilian ranches.

On environmental damage, the IFA President said research has linked the five-fold increase in beef exports from Brazil in recent years with the rapid destruction of the rainforests in the Pantanal and Amazon regions that is a major cause of global climate change.