EU hears Brazil claims

By Justin McCarthy

A delegation from the Irish Farmers Association and Irish Farmers Journal will make the case for a complete ban on Brazilian beef imports when they present their findings to the Agricultural Committee of the European Parliament in Brussels next Monday.

The mission team will present evidence detailing how beef production standards in Brazil fall well short of European standards and will highlight how the regionalisation policy adopted by the EU towards Brazil simply isn't working.

Jim Twomey took advantage of the sunshine on a rare dry day to cut winter barley for crimping on his farm in Minane Bridge, Co Cork. The barley was cut at 30% moisture and the variety is Spectrum.

IFA president Padraig Walshe said the IFA will be requesting members of the Agricultural Committee to demand immediate implementation of a ban on Brazilian beef imports which fail to meet EU standards.

The Brazilian beef debate is not only gaining momentum among the MEPs across Europe, but also within the EU Commission itself.

In a letter sent to the Commissioner for Health, Markos Kyprianou, Commissioner for Agriculture Mariann Fischer Boel warned that the credibility of the whole Commission was now at stake.

Credibility

Referring to the findings of the IFA/IFJ mission, the Agriculture Commissioner warned: "When this report is discussed in the European Parliament and finds its way into the media, and finally into the broader public, not only will the two of us be in the front line but the credibility of the whole Commission will be at stake.''

Commenting on the IFA/IFJ report, Commissioner Fischer Boel told her colleague: "These findings are so dramatic that we cannot just let it go. In my view we need to verify these findings in a convincing and effective manner''.

Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel described the issue as one "that is increasingly heating up in the discussions on international trade in agriculture''.

She added: "Whatever you decide it should, however, be sufficient either to rebutt the Irish allegations and give evidence that the Brazilian situation does not give rise for trade restricting measures or to demonstrate that the Commission has taken neccessary steps to ensure that fundamental public health standards are respected by Brazilian beef imports''.

In welcoming Commissioner Fischer Boel's letter, the IFA President said that momentum is building across a number of fronts on the EU Commission to take action and impose a ban on Brazilian beef imports which fail to meet EU standards.

The Commissioner for Health has also received written correspondence from Ireland's Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan. She highlighted the serious nature of the findings of the Farmers Journal/IFA report and the concerns raised in relation to the equivalence of standards applying in Brazil.

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