The former chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and former chair of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Dr Patrick Wall has said that Brazilian authorities will not be able to meet the deadline set out by the European Commission to deal with concerns over the use of antibiotics and illegal growth promoters in beef.

Wall publicly backed the claim by Independent Ireland MEP Ciaran Mullooly that it is not safe or technically possible for Brazilian beef to be restored onto the list of safe countries for exporting beef into Ireland and the EU from 3 September.

Wall met with Mullooly and Independent Ireland TD Michael Fitzmaurice last weekend to discuss the issue.

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I don’t believe this will be possible

At the meeting, Wall said: “The Brazilian authorities now have three months to get their act together and I don’t believe this will be possible. The animals being brought to slaughter this coming September will be two years old.

“We can’t go back two years and retrospectively get reliable traceability. They might start in September of this year going forward, but they won’t be able to go back two years. So, it won't be possible.”

Letter

Following the meeting, Mullooly wrote to Olivér Várhelyi, the EU Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, requesting that he ensures the ban on Brazilian beef entering Ireland and Europe remains in place.

In the letter, Mullooly informed the commissioner about Wall’s view that that it would not be practically or technically possible under any circumstances for Brazilian beef to be considered safe to enter the EU on 3 September.

Mullooly also invited Várhelyi to meet with Wall to discuss the matter further.

Furthermore, he confirmed that he met with the current chief executive of the FSAI Greg Dempsey to discuss the labelling of Brazilian beef entering Ireland, statutory loopholes in control and audit systems and implementation issues caused by poor existing EU Legislation to safeguard consumers of beef.

Additionally, Fitzmaurice is calling on the Irish Government to raise Wall’s statement at the highest possible level in the European Commission.