farming unions concern over Brazilian controls

UK Farming Unions and the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) have expressed concern about the shortcomings in the management of Foot and Mouth Disease controls in Brazil following a recent fact-finding visit to the country by the IFA.

Ed Rees, NFU Cymru’s Livestock Board Chairman, met with his fellow UK union representatives recently to learn more from the IFA about their visit to South America and their findings.

Mr Rees said, “The UK farming unions and the IFA have been very concerned about the shortcomings in the management of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) controls that have been reported by the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) mission to Brazil in September 2005.”

The key findings of the IFA visit to Brazil earlier this month, which included a meeting with a key Brazilian Foot and Mouth Disease expert, Professor Augusto Pinto, were in line with many of the findings of the last official FVO report, they were:

Totally inadequate FMD controls

Non-existent traceability

Environmental degradation

Social exploitation

Mr Rees said, “We are clear that it is essential that the British Isles are not exposed to unnecessary risk of Foot and Mouth Disease from Brazilian imports. We understand that five major countries* have introduced outright bans on Brazilian beef and the question must be asked why the standards adopted by the European Commission are below those applied in other countries such as the United States.”

The UK Farming Unions and IFA will be writing a joint letter to the European Commission outlining their concerns and calling for a meeting at their earliest convenience to discuss this further. They also plan to hold briefings for Members of the European Parliament in Brussels to set out the facts and to highlight those areas where farmers require reassurance that sufficient measures have been fully implemented to prevent disease entering Europe.