Mr Padraig Walshe, IFA President has said that the latest reports that the Brazilian authorities had submitted a new list of farms to the EU Commission must be treated with the highest degree of suspicion by Commissioner Kyprianou. Mr Walshe said Commissioner Kyprianou must hold firm against the Brazilians and maintain the current ban.

The IFA President believes the Brazilians have proven themselves to be totally unreliable and have repeatedly failed to meet previous commitments to correct a long list of failures on meeting EU standards.

Just last week in the Brazilian senate the Agriculture Minister Reinhold Stephanes severely criticised Brazilian beef exporters and admitted they had exported untraceable animals to the EU. During the session in the senate, Minister Stephanes criticised certification in Brazil and said that the situation was “scandalous”.

Mr Walshe said the Brazilian beef exporters association ABIEC also admitted the major deficiencies with standards in Brazil saying that ‘it’s good that the Minister recognises the deficiencies in the traceability”. Their President Partani de Moraes who is a former Minister for Agriculture, admitted that untraceable meat has been exported to the EU and slaughter houses would have to get ready for stricter regulations. President Partani de Moraes said many of the farms in Brazil are not ready for these new demands. President Partani de Moraes claimed‘the Government has shot itself in the foot and the Minister has worsened the European embargo’.

The IFA President said “a number of weeks back Brazil submitted a list of 2,500 farms in direct contravention of the Commission’s decision of January 2007. When this list was thrown out by the EU, it is understood over a week ago they submitted another list of around 600 beef ranches which was also reported as being rejected by the Commission.”

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