United Kingdom-The worse kind of protectionism

THERE has been speculation in recent weeks that Brazil could once more target the EU with large tonnages of beef after a year-long ban imposed by Brussels amid fears about foot-and-mouth controls and traceability.

Yesterday Brian Simpson, development officer at the Scottish Beef Cattle Association, announced he had written to Brussels in the wake of last Sunday’s BBC 2 Amazon programme, which purported to show examples of something approaching slavery in manADVERTISEMENT300x250 y parts of rural Brazil.

Simpson said: "The native peoples were clearly voicing their continuing concerns that the remaining reservations are being destroyed by illegal logging and the clearance of rainforests.

"The Brazilian government has acknowledged the problem and has set up anti-slavery departments, but they are proving to be ineffective in dealing with the outlaws intent on producing beef with no regard to the people and the environment of the Amazon."

Brazil has an extensive beef industry, but farmers and landowners are finding they can make a far greater profit from growing sugar cane for the burgeoning biofuels industry than rearing cattle.

The latest statistics reveal that beef exports from Brazil last year declined by 20 per cent to little over one million tonnes, the lowest figure since 2004. Exports to the EU amounted to just 34,900 tonnes – way down on the 2006 total of 305,000 tonnes.

Business between Brazil and Russia, which last year imported 383,000 tonnes, is also reported to be in decline on account of the global credit crunch.