The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has upped the ante on TDs and senators opposing Mercosur by calling on them to push for European Commission food safety officials to appear before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture.
A specially-convened committee meeting on Tuesday heard from a delegation from the IFA, as well as Irish Farmers Journal acting co-editor Adam Woods and picture editor Philip Doyle, on the joint investigation into the standards of beef farming in Brazil.
When asked what the IFA was seeking from the committee, the association’s director general Damian McDonald called on its members to push for clarity on a recent audit report due to be kept under wraps in Brussels until next year and for them to invite Commission officials before the committee.
The audit referenced by McDonald had been detailed to the meeting by IFA president Francie Gorman, who explained that it had uncovered that beef containing banned hormones had been imported into the EU and had entered the food chain in Italy.
Discovery
“The discovery of hormones in beef exported to the EU from Brazil highlights the lack of controls in slaughterhouses in Brazil, which has allowed this beef to enter the EU and be sold to European citizens,” Gorman said.
It led to a recall notice being issued by EU authorities and a scramble to recover the beef from the 10 EU member states it had been shipped to.
The IFA wants the release in full of this audit report before Mercosur is voted on by member states and MEPs.
“If there was one thing that this committee could do immediately, I think, it is to write to the Commission and ask for a copy of that report,” McDonald told the committee.
“Why can’t they give the whole report out? The meat containing this hormone has been eaten by EU citizens and, 12 months ago, the Commission identified that the controls in Brazil to stop this product entering the food chain were ineffective and couldn’t be relied upon,” he stated.
McDonald said that EU officials should give evidence to the Oireachtas on the commitments they had received from Brazil on foot of a 2024 audit that warned such hormones could end up in beef exported to the EU.
Read more
Watch: Brazil's antibiotic trade exposed
Tagging and traceability trouble in Brazil
Farm Tech Talk: Brazil’s lack of tags, sheep and milk price outlook
Brazilian beef with banned hormones enters EU foodchain
The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has upped the ante on TDs and senators opposing Mercosur by calling on them to push for European Commission food safety officials to appear before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture.
A specially-convened committee meeting on Tuesday heard from a delegation from the IFA, as well as Irish Farmers Journal acting co-editor Adam Woods and picture editor Philip Doyle, on the joint investigation into the standards of beef farming in Brazil.
When asked what the IFA was seeking from the committee, the association’s director general Damian McDonald called on its members to push for clarity on a recent audit report due to be kept under wraps in Brussels until next year and for them to invite Commission officials before the committee.
The audit referenced by McDonald had been detailed to the meeting by IFA president Francie Gorman, who explained that it had uncovered that beef containing banned hormones had been imported into the EU and had entered the food chain in Italy.
Discovery
“The discovery of hormones in beef exported to the EU from Brazil highlights the lack of controls in slaughterhouses in Brazil, which has allowed this beef to enter the EU and be sold to European citizens,” Gorman said.
It led to a recall notice being issued by EU authorities and a scramble to recover the beef from the 10 EU member states it had been shipped to.
The IFA wants the release in full of this audit report before Mercosur is voted on by member states and MEPs.
“If there was one thing that this committee could do immediately, I think, it is to write to the Commission and ask for a copy of that report,” McDonald told the committee.
“Why can’t they give the whole report out? The meat containing this hormone has been eaten by EU citizens and, 12 months ago, the Commission identified that the controls in Brazil to stop this product entering the food chain were ineffective and couldn’t be relied upon,” he stated.
McDonald said that EU officials should give evidence to the Oireachtas on the commitments they had received from Brazil on foot of a 2024 audit that warned such hormones could end up in beef exported to the EU.
Read more
Watch: Brazil's antibiotic trade exposed
Tagging and traceability trouble in Brazil
Farm Tech Talk: Brazil’s lack of tags, sheep and milk price outlook
Brazilian beef with banned hormones enters EU foodchain
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