Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

Meat imported from an EU source must come from an approved establishment and be accompanied to its destination with a commercial document or a health certificate signed by an official veterinarian of the competent authority of the member state of origin. In the case of importation from third countries, meat or meat products must originate in a country approved by the EU for trade in such products, have been produced in an approved establishment and be accompanied by a health certificate in accordance with the provisions of Community legislation and must be presented for inspection at an EU approved border inspection post.

Checks are carried out by the EU food and veterinary office to ensure that EU requirements are complied with and I am satisfied the Department of Agriculture and Food and other State agencies have a system in place to ensure that all food imported into this country complies with national and EU regulations. The Minister has been in regular contact with Commissioner Kyprianou on the issue of meat imports and he has assured her the Commission will not hesitate to take the appropriate protection measures if a product imported from a third country or produced in the domestic market represents a risk to the health of EC consumers or livestock. At a visit to the Oireachtas in September 2006, a representative of the Commission gave the same assurance to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food.

In the matter of beef imports from Brazil, which have been subject to much public comment, the EU food and veterinary office has over the past four years carried out inspections in that country and published its findings with regard to its evaluation of certain matters. These include the animal health and public health control systems and traceability and certification procedures in place, in particular relating to foot and mouth disease; and control of residues and contaminants in live animals and animal products, including controls on veterinary medical products.

These reports have commented on the structure, organisation and tasks of the Brazilian competent authorities to guarantee that food exported from that country is safe. The food and veterinary office has listed recommendations to these authorities to address deficiencies found in the course of the audits. The Commission has also undertaken follow-up visits and, in regard to beef, these show that the Brazilian authorities are continuing to make improvements.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

Alongside safeguard measures introduced by the Commission to control imports because of the outbreak of foot and mouth in certain regions, actions have been taken against Brazil because of poor performance on residue levels in eggs and egg products, milk and milk products, pig meat, ovine and caprine meat and honey.

The Commission has confirmed to my Department that corrective action plans to implement the various recommendations have been received. Following its assessment, the Commission has deemed the residue measures relating to beef, horse meat and aquaculture to be acceptable and that there is no risk from legally imported beef from Brazil. It has been confirmed that a further FVO inspection on residues in Brazil is being planned for the first quarter of 2007 to verify the implementation of the corrective measures. The FVO have also scheduled another animal and public health mission to Brazil for the early part of next year.

I have taken every opportunity to remind the Commission of the importance of having the same standards, particularly relating to all exporting countries, including Brazil, and my Department will continue to closely monitor the position.

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