Reports in recent days of further investigations in Brazil suggest there is an endemic problem with controls and regulation that go all the way to the president. Meanwhile, the highly publicised EU inspection audits, hastily organised in the aftermath of the previous incident in March, concluded on 16 May.

The Commissioner in charge of ensuring the quality of food available to EU consumers was in Dublin this week and spoke to Thomas Hubert. It is disappointing that he had little to say on the findings as there won’t be a report for another two weeks.

With news of the latest investigation emerging after the EU audits concluded, there should be a greater urgency by the EU in establishing just exactly what is going on with the EU’s biggest external supplier of beef and a major external supplier of poultry. Previously, the EU suspended one of its own members, the UK, from supplying other members with beef because of BSE, which wasn’t unique to the UK.

The trade ban continued long after the UK had taken measures to bring the disease under control, as part of the EU precautionary principle. Surely the ongoing events in Brazil are of at least similar gravity and demand a suspension of trade until full confidence is restored both inside Brazil and in the EU on the application of controls in a proper impartial manner, free from any suspicion of corruption.