EU Will Introduce Restrictions on Brazilian Beef By Danielle Rossingh

EU Will Introduce Restrictions on Brazilian Beef

By Danielle Rossingh

The European Union plans to restrict Brazilian beef imports from next month because of “serious and repeated'' failings in the animal health system of the world's biggest beef exporter.

From Jan. 31, the 27-nation bloc will only allow Brazilian beef within its borders that comes from “an approved and restricted list of holdings,'' the Brussels-based European Commission said in a statement today.

The measures follow a two-year campaign by the Irish Farmers' Association, which said it had evidence that Brazil used improper animal identification procedures and inadequate controls for foot-and-mouth disease. The EU imported about 520,000 metric tons of beef in 2005, of which 350,000 tons came from the South American country, the commission said in July.

The EU's Food and Veterinary Office, or FVO, will carry out inspections to ensure all import requirements are met, the commission said. These include keeping the animals on an EU- approved holding for at least 90 days, and identifying and registering them.

An FVO check last month “identified a number of serious and repeated deficiencies in Brazil's animal health and traceability systems,'' the commission said.

The EU's executive arm is introducing the restrictions after Brazilian authorities “failed to take the appropriate measures'' following “a series of warnings,'' the commission said.

`Unnecessary'

While the measures are a “significant step forward,'' only an outright ban would ensure Europe is free from the risk of foot-and-month disease, Irish Farmers' President Padraig Walshe said in comments carried on his organization's Web site.

Brazil's Agriculture Ministry said today in a statement that the country may lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organization against the EU restrictions, calling the moves “unnecessary'' and “unjustified.''

Brazil may unify its registering systems to reassure the EU about the origins of each cow and the quality of beef, Agriculture Ministry spokesman Paulo Henrique Tavares said on Dec. 12.

Agriculture Minister Reinhold Stephanes cited the need to integrate Brazil's national cattle-tracing system with electronic permits for animal transportation, Tavares said at the time.