Jul 27th, 2009

Major Deficiencies Found In Latest Brazilian Beef Inspection Report

Commenting on the latest inspection report on Brazilian beef, Mr. Martin McMahon, Chairperson of ICMSA's Beef and Cattle Committee, said that it is quite clear that major deficiencies still exist and that Brazilian beef is not meeting the same standards as EU beef and thus should not be allowed to be traded in the EU.

In the report, of the twelve farms inspected by EU inspectors, six or fifty percent of them were found to have deficiencies, many of which if found on an Irish farm, would lead to a serious financial penalty for the Irish farmer or possibly imprisonment. The animals, Mr. McMahon said, would also likely be destroyed on an Irish farm but yet, are allowed to be sold on the European market on the same basis as EU beef when it is imported from Brazil.

Such a discrepancy in standards should not be tolerated and should not be accepted by the EU Commission. Irish beef farmers are seeing their prices over ten percent back on year earlier levels and we are expected to compete against imports that have much lower standards which means their costs are also substantially lower. This competitive advantage is being facilitated by the EU Commission by accepting these lower standards and this cannot be allowed to continue. All beef sold on the EU market, Mr. McMahon said, should meet the same standard and thus allow for fair competition.

As an example, on one of the farms inspected, the inspector actually owned some of the animals on the farm and married to another worker on the farm. In this day and age, such practices should not be tolerated and it is ICMSA's firm view that Brazilian beef should only be on the EU market which it meets the same exacting standards as EU beef. The current policy of effectively ignoring deficiencies cannot be allowed to continue and must be stopped, concluded Mr. McMahon.

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