HEALTH
EU to ban Brazilian beef import
Thursday, January 31, 2008
EU will suspend all imports of Brazilian beef from Thursday after Brazil failed to provide sufficient guarantees on their safety. The decision were taken after inspections found Brazil's animal health and traceability systems failed to meet EU requirements.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Brazil slams EU beef ban as 'unjustifiable and arbitary'
By AFP
Brazil slammed a decision Wednesday by the European Union to ban all its beef imports as "unjustifiable and arbitrary," rubbishing assertions that European consumer safety was at risk.
In a statement, the agriculture ministry said the EU ban, which is to take effect Thursday, was based on European concerns related to the "mad cow" disease outbreak that began in the 1980s -- and which did not affect Brazil.
The EU's move "is unnecessary, disproportional and unjustified, given the identified problems in the system of traceability and the proven absence of risk to human and animal health," it said.
The sharply-worded statement was a response to an announcement by EU Health and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Markos Kyprianou that Brazilian beef imports were being suspended because no agreement could be reached on which Brazilian cattle farms could be considered safe under EU rules.
Those rules require beef importers into Europe to have animal health and traceability systems that meet EU requirements on farm registration, animal identification and movement controls.
A November inspection by EU officials determined that many Brazilian farms did not meet those standards.
Brazil subsequently offered a list of 2,600 farms it said deserved to be exempt from the export ban, but European authorities rejected it and activated the blanket ban on Brazilian beef.
Brazil is the world's biggest beef exporter, sending abroad almost 2.3 million tonnes per year, a third of total exports around the globe. Last year it earned 4.5 billion dollars from the trade.
The Brazilian agriculture ministry urged the European Commission to "guarantee transparency and predictability in the coming phases so that normalcy can return to the beef trade sector."
In a statement, the agriculture ministry said the EU ban, which is to take effect Thursday, was based on European concerns related to the "mad cow" disease outbreak that began in the 1980s -- and which did not affect Brazil.
The EU's move "is unnecessary, disproportional and unjustified, given the identified problems in the system of traceability and the proven absence of risk to human and animal health," it said.
The sharply-worded statement was a response to an announcement by EU Health and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Markos Kyprianou that Brazilian beef imports were being suspended because no agreement could be reached on which Brazilian cattle farms could be considered safe under EU rules.
Those rules require beef importers into Europe to have animal health and traceability systems that meet EU requirements on farm registration, animal identification and movement controls.
A November inspection by EU officials determined that many Brazilian farms did not meet those standards.
Brazil subsequently offered a list of 2,600 farms it said deserved to be exempt from the export ban, but European authorities rejected it and activated the blanket ban on Brazilian beef.
Brazil is the world's biggest beef exporter, sending abroad almost 2.3 million tonnes per year, a third of total exports around the globe. Last year it earned 4.5 billion dollars from the trade.
The Brazilian agriculture ministry urged the European Commission to "guarantee transparency and predictability in the coming phases so that normalcy can return to the beef trade sector."
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