Suspect beef from Brazil may have been sold in UK

Apr 22 2008 by Steve Dube, Western Mail

MEAT from foot-and-mouth infected areas of Brazil could have been sold in British supermarkets last year, according to an EU report.

The EU Food and Veterinary Office found “systematic failures” in the Brazilian beef industry during an inspection by EU experts last November.

These included breakdowns in holding registration, animal identification and movement controls, and no guarantee that animals from areas of the country where foot-and-mouth disease is rampant were excluded from export to the EU.

NFU Cymru livestock board chairman Ed Rees said the inspection report, published last week, justified the union’s call for the ban on Brazilian beef exports to the EU – and showed that one should have been introduced earlier.

“This report highlights once again what we have told the European Commission for a long time now, namely that one of our main competitors has been allowed to operate to lower standards of traceability than that of home producers,” he said.

“High traceability standards in Wales and the rest of the UK mean I have to tag my cattle and register them to move them off my farm, so it makes my blood boil to see this report highlighting deficiencies in Brazilian controls which could allow for the fraudulent use of ear tags and for cattle from non-approved foot-and- mouth infested areas of the country to be exported to the EU.”

Last November’s inspection led to a ban on beef imports to Europe, apart from EU-approved holdings.

Just 95 farms are currently certified to export to the EU – less than one per cent of the farms allowed to export before the partial ban came into place.

Mr Rees said NFU Cymru would prefer a total ban on imports from Brazil “until they get their house in order”.

He said, “We expect the EU Food and Veterinary Office to be vigilant and robust in its monitoring of the situation in Brazil to ensure they operate to the same standards as those expected of home producers.”