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Speaking before the Agriculture Council on Monday, EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis said while it is “not up to us to detect fraud in Brazil”, the EU will enforce the highest food safety standards.
“All consignments from establishments under review will be rejected and returned to Brazil,” Commissioner Andriukaitis said.
He added that Brazil must be able to demonstrate the “reliability, predictably” of the food it exports to the EU.
Commissioner Andriukaitis said that an audit of food safety standards in Brazil is ongoing and he hopes to have it completed “after Easter but not before the middle of May”.
Operation Weak Flesh
It is now over two weeks since Brazil was rocked by the revelations of Operation Weak Flesh.
On 16 March, some 1,000 police raided 30 companies in Brazil, including JBS, with accusations of rotten and dangerous meat having been sold and public officials bribed.
While Brazilian authorities have contained the scandal, domestic prices in the South American country have taken a hit in the past week.
Irish farmers are still waiting to see if prices here will receive a bounce on the back of the scandal.
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