The European Food and Veterinary Office is an office of the DG Sanco, the Health Commission. This office has been responsible for the standard of health and safety of food imported from outside the EU.

The large scale importation of Brazilian Beef has been a controversial issue.  Irish farmers have been heavily regulated by Brussels and now produce arguably the safest and the finest beef in the world.

Meat imports into the EU are not produced under the same stringent regulation and compete unfairly with Irish and EU produced meats. Ireland is the 4th largest beef exporter in the World.

Kathy Sinnott, MEP, asked the Commission designate why she, as Parliament Representative to the EFVO, had a copy of the draft EFVO report to Brazil from last November yet she has been told not to publish it or discuss it.

Deputy Sinnott pointed out that farmers and their organisations need to see reports as the findings of the mission potentially have an impact on their decisions on farms in Ireland.

Kathy also asked the Commission to ensure a revision of proposals to limit animal transport to a maximum of 8 hours between periods of travel, which are not realistic for island nations like Ireland and Cyprus.

Deputy Sinnott stressed that good standards of animal welfare, health and safety are vital but time limits are not necessarily a measure of this. Island nations should be excused from such impossible time limits as long as animal welfare standards are maintained.

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