Farmer confidence in the European Commission will take a hammering with the latest revelations to emerge from last year’s EU audit of Brazilian beef, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said.
IFA president Francie Gorman said the findings published by the Commission on Wednesday highlight the absence of effective controls in Brazil to prevent hormones banned in the EU from entering the food chain via Brazilian beef.
“This latest audit asks very serious questions about how the Commission oversees imports of Brazilian beef,” Gorman commented.
“We have been repeatedly assured that improvements were happening and that the controls are in place.
“In the ongoing debate about the Bord Bia chair, some have argued that the necessary safeguards are in place, but clearly they are not.
“Farmers will have no faith in either the Commission or the authorities in Brazil when they read the details of this latest audit.
“The failure to implement what the Commission refers to a ‘critical recommendation’ exposes the fundamental issue with imports of Brazilian beef.”
The IFA has said that the Commission’s audit reaffirms the joint investigation carried out last year by the Irish Farmers Journal and the IFA into Brazilian beef farming standards – the full results of the investigation can be found here.
Gorman also suggested that the findings contained in the new audit report were not entirely unexpected as they were published just 12 months after the Commission had sounded alarm on the Brazilian standards it encountered on a previous audit.
The IFA leader was unimpressed with the publication of such significant findings after member states and MEPs have already cast votes on the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement, which would lower tariffs on Brazilian beef bound for the EU.
“We were given plenty of assurances in the run up to the Mercosur vote in the European Parliament in January to refer the deal to the ECJ, but they don’t stack up when put beside the latest audit findings.”
Read more
Broken promises: what the EU’s audit found out about Brazilian beef
Brussels confirms damning Brazilian failures on hormone beef controls
Farmer confidence in the European Commission will take a hammering with the latest revelations to emerge from last year’s EU audit of Brazilian beef, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said.
IFA president Francie Gorman said the findings published by the Commission on Wednesday highlight the absence of effective controls in Brazil to prevent hormones banned in the EU from entering the food chain via Brazilian beef.
“This latest audit asks very serious questions about how the Commission oversees imports of Brazilian beef,” Gorman commented.
“We have been repeatedly assured that improvements were happening and that the controls are in place.
“In the ongoing debate about the Bord Bia chair, some have argued that the necessary safeguards are in place, but clearly they are not.
“Farmers will have no faith in either the Commission or the authorities in Brazil when they read the details of this latest audit.
“The failure to implement what the Commission refers to a ‘critical recommendation’ exposes the fundamental issue with imports of Brazilian beef.”
The IFA has said that the Commission’s audit reaffirms the joint investigation carried out last year by the Irish Farmers Journal and the IFA into Brazilian beef farming standards – the full results of the investigation can be found here.
Gorman also suggested that the findings contained in the new audit report were not entirely unexpected as they were published just 12 months after the Commission had sounded alarm on the Brazilian standards it encountered on a previous audit.
The IFA leader was unimpressed with the publication of such significant findings after member states and MEPs have already cast votes on the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement, which would lower tariffs on Brazilian beef bound for the EU.
“We were given plenty of assurances in the run up to the Mercosur vote in the European Parliament in January to refer the deal to the ECJ, but they don’t stack up when put beside the latest audit findings.”
Read more
Broken promises: what the EU’s audit found out about Brazilian beef
Brussels confirms damning Brazilian failures on hormone beef controls
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