Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 134: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food her views on the reports published by the EU Commission Food and Veterinary Office that the production standards in Brazil are totally inferior to those applied within the European Union; her further views on whether the Brazilian standards are totally inadequate on the important issues of traceability, movement and control of foot and mouth disease, residue testing and the control and use of veterinary medicines and environmental conditions; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that it is the stated policy of the EU Commission directorate on health and consumer affairs that the production standards on imports into the European Union must be equivalent to the standards applying within the Union; the reason the European Union accepts imports of beef from Brazil which do not meet the requirements set down by the EU control authority; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33757/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The principle underlying the harmonised EU regulations on imports is that animal products imported from third countries must meet standards at least equivalent to those required for production in, and trade between, member states. To be an approved third country, it must: be entered on to a listing of approved countries following a proposal by the Commission and agreed by the standing committee on the food chain and animal health, SCoFCAH, and updated on the basis of EU audits and guarantees given by the competent authority of the exporting country; have veterinary controls equivalent to those applicable in the EU, particularly in terms of legislation, hygiene conditions, animal health status, veterinary medicines controls, zoonoses controls and other food law; have in place a residues programme approved by the European Commission.

Animal products must be sourced from establishments that are approved and must bear an EU approved health mark. Exporting establishments must have: standards equivalent to the requirements for EU export establishments; effective control systems and supervision by the competent authorities; traceability/labelling in accordance with the systems approved by the FVO and accepted and notified to the EU member states.

The FVO carries out inspections to ensure that only establishments that meet hygiene and health standards equivalent to those operating within the EU are approved. Where the FVO considers that public health requirements are not being met, an establishment may be removed from the EU approved list. If outbreaks of animal diseases occur in a third country, approval to export to the EU is suspended for the infected regions of the country, or the whole country, as appropriate, until the disease risk has been eliminated.

The Deputy is referring to three reports of the Food and Veterinary Office of the EU of audits and inspections it carried out between 2001 and 2004 on production and export controls and on residue controls operated by the Brazilian competent authorities for beef destined for export to the European Community. These audits were undertaken in compliance with the provisions of EU legislation on food hygiene and on health conditions for the production and placing on the market of certain products of animal origin intended for human consumption and in accordance with the conditions under which Brazil has been approved by the EU to trade with it in certain animal products.

I fully support the policy that animal products imported into the EU from third countries meet standards at least equivalent to those required for production in, and trade between, EU member states. In this context I wrote last month to the Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Mr. Markos Kyprianou, concerning expressing my unease on the sanitary rules applying to the import of livestock products, especially beef, into the European Union. In the letter, I raised the matter of "equivalence" on the specific and important issues of animal traceability, controls on veterinary medicines, prohibited substances and residue monitoring programmes in these countries and in particular with regard to Brazilian beef in view of its increasing presence on the European market. I requested the Commission to consider the matter and invited it to put appropriate proposals before the EU standing committee on the food chain and animal health, SCoFCAH.

Irish farmers are required to ensure that their production systems and farm practices fully comply with a wide range of EU directives on important matters, including traceability, animal health and welfare and consumer protection. These all have significant in-built cost factors and bearing in mind that our beef farmers are in competition on European and international markets with beef from low cost producers such as Brazil, I will continue to seek real equivalence in these areas, both in discussions within the EU and in the context of the WTO talks on market access.