Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

Over the past several years, Deputies from all parties have expressed concerns about the importation of Brazilian beef into the EU. I have heard the issue being raised by Members from all sides of the House. The rules and regulations applicable to Brazilian beef are inadequate in comparison to EU-originated products. There is a complete absence of individual traceability and growth hormones are freely used. Early last year, the IFA travelled to Brazil, where they produced a video on what they encountered. Although it was rubbished in some quarters, the latest reports vindicate many of its claims. In addition, Brazil uses vaccination to counteract the problem of foot and mouth disease.

The long awaited Food and Veterinary Office report was published yesterday. The report is disturbing because the number of animals on two out of nine holdings visited did not match the number on the database, highlighting a lack of routine checks to verify cattle numbers and individual identification. More animals were listed on the database than were present on the farm. The quality of the ear tags used was inadequate, individual tags were illegible in many instances and a high percentage were missing or lost. As a consequence, the reliability of the 90-day residency policy used by the EU to implement regionalisation is totally undermined. In one meat plant an animal was declared ineligible for the EU, yet its meat formed part of a consignment destined to the Community. That is a serious breach of procedures.

The report also found shortcomings in the vaccination procedure and stated that no routine controls had been carried out by competent authorities on holdings in some states to ensure proper vaccination. The consequence of this exposure is herd immunity might not be sufficient to protect against foot and mouth disease. It was observed that the foot and mouth virus continues to circulate in parts of the Matto Grasso. The Food and Veterinary Office noted the absence of a programme to monitor the efficiency of the vaccination in 2007, which jeopardises the future certification of beef. The report confirms all the concerns which have been expressed by the IFA, ICMSA and health and safety experts. The matter is ongoing because agents of the office are still in Brazil and will produce further reports.

News broke this morning of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Commissioner Kyprianou's home country of Cyprus. We are told that the strain of the virus in Cyprus is the same as that found in Britain earlier this year, as well as the prevalent strain in Brazil.

Questions arise in respect of the support of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for the importation of Brazilian beef, which is opposed by most people in the industry other than the barons who want to make a killing from it. Everybody who genuinely has this country's interests at heart opposes importing the beef. How long can the Minister continue to support the importation of beef which is finding its way into our food chain without being displayed as Brazilian? One can buy beef in any hotel or restaurant without knowing its origin. From a health and safety perspective and because of the irregularities in implementing the regulations, which are already uneven, I urge the Minister to oppose the importation of Brazilian beef into the EU.

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