Brazil's traceability when it comes to cattle is a big threat to its chances of accessing the UK beef market, Alexandre Hornemann, a commercial advisor for Danish food and agriculture companies in Brazil, has said.
He told journalists on the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) exposure for development tour that Brazil sees Brexit as an opportunity and the UK is an attractive market, but there are fears over a queue of countries and companies also trying to get access to the market.
He said that while a significant amount of animals are traced from birth in Brazil, a lot are not and often animals are only traced from the last farm they are on before going to the factory.
Alexandre Hornemann, a commercial advisor for food and agricultural companies at the Danish consulate in Brazil.
He said that there is also an issue whereby animals move on foot themselves one farm to another, which adds to the difficulty when it comes to traceability.
UK market
Hornemann said that it remains to be seen what standards the UK will apply after its exit from the EU.
"Where is the UK market going? Will it stick with European rules?
"The UK is a prime market. There is an expectation to get whole (fully) traced beef there. Fresh beef [needs to be] traced. Burgers are the killer, they are difficult to trace," he said.
Potential UK buyers are also looking for certain standards from Brazilian farmers.
"We want to be sure animals are not from illegal farms." He said illegal farms can be defined by three things; if they are farming indigenous land, if they have slave labour and if they are illegally cutting trees.
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Brazil's traceability when it comes to cattle is a big threat to its chances of accessing the UK beef market, Alexandre Hornemann, a commercial advisor for Danish food and agriculture companies in Brazil, has said.
He told journalists on the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) exposure for development tour that Brazil sees Brexit as an opportunity and the UK is an attractive market, but there are fears over a queue of countries and companies also trying to get access to the market.
He said that while a significant amount of animals are traced from birth in Brazil, a lot are not and often animals are only traced from the last farm they are on before going to the factory.
Alexandre Hornemann, a commercial advisor for food and agricultural companies at the Danish consulate in Brazil.
He said that there is also an issue whereby animals move on foot themselves one farm to another, which adds to the difficulty when it comes to traceability.
UK market
Hornemann said that it remains to be seen what standards the UK will apply after its exit from the EU.
"Where is the UK market going? Will it stick with European rules?
"The UK is a prime market. There is an expectation to get whole (fully) traced beef there. Fresh beef [needs to be] traced. Burgers are the killer, they are difficult to trace," he said.
Potential UK buyers are also looking for certain standards from Brazilian farmers.
"We want to be sure animals are not from illegal farms." He said illegal farms can be defined by three things; if they are farming indigenous land, if they have slave labour and if they are illegally cutting trees.
Read more
'We're in uncharted waters' - farmers react to Brazilian beef threat
China best hope for Irish beef
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