Stay firm on Brazilian beef ban

Together with other Euro-MPs and representatives of the farming unions I have long been calling for a ban on the import of Brazilian beef to the European Union.

The Commission has at last listened to reason and announced a total – if temporary – halt to imports from the end of last month.

Last September in Strasbourg I joined forces with Euro-MPs from Scotland, England and Ireland to launch a parliamentary campaign for a ban.

Even then, when we raised an Irish Farmers Association study which had raised concerns about foot-and-mouth disease, the use of growth hormones and the lack of traceability of the Brazilian beef herd, the Commission refused to act.

We called for a ban because of serious and well- founded concerns about animal health and hygiene standards in Brazil.

What gives new cause for concern is Brazil's recent decision to lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organization alleging that the European ban breaches trade rules. This is bizarre given that the US, Australia, Japan and South Korea all have similar bans in place.

What is absolutely vital is that the Commission remains firm in the face of this attack from the Brazilian government. We must make sure of that – there is too much at stake. Welsh livestock farming continues to struggle to recover from the movement ban that followed last year's Pirbright foot-and-mouth outbreak. Yet all the while Brazil beef imports to the EU were allowed to continue when documented concerns about the existence of foot-and-mouth in Brazilian cattle was being highlighted. Such apparent double standards are disappointing.