Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

235. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has had discussions with the EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety regarding the need to introduce new requirements pertaining to the import of meat products from Brazil; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29183/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As soon as details of investigations into meat fraud in Brazil first emerged I wrote to Commissioner Andriukaitis outlining my concerns and stressing the importance that all appropriate steps are taken to ensure that any imports into the EU meet all of its animal and public health standards. Commissioner Andriukaitis has since given regular updates at the EU AgriFish Council.

Since 21 March only 1 consignment of Brazilian meat, from the four implicated establishments that are authorised to export to the EU, has arrived at an EU Border Inspection Point (BIP) destined for Ireland. This consignment was rejected. 

An EU wide programme of supplementary checks for Brazilian consignments of meat has also been introduced. In addition, the Commission has carried out an audit of beef processing plants, and slaughter facilities for poultry and horsemeat in the Brazilian states that were implicated in the Brazilian inquiry.

The audit findings highlighted a number of concerns including systematic failures in the controls systems and deficiencies relating to food safety standards and official certification processes.

As a result on 7 June Commissioner Andriukaitis wrote to the Brazilian authorities to advise them of the findings of the audit and inform them that of additional measures that were to be put in place including:

- Delisting all horse meat slaughterhouses and horse exporting companies from the list of establishment eligible for export to the EU;

- Not to accept any new establishments to the lists for export to the EU;

- Introduce 100% systemic pre-export microbiological checks for export of poultry meat and meat products and preparations from Brazil to the EU.  

At the Agri-Fish Council meeting on the 13 June, Member States including Ireland voiced their support for the measures undertaken by the Commissioner and Commissioner Andriukatis restated that the Commission stands ready to take further action if required in response.