June 20, 2007

Ireland's beef farmers fear threat of Brazilian competition
 

Ireland's beef farmers concerned over a global trade agreement between Brazil and the EU should recent talks succeed, have launched a campaign to protect their interests.

The Irish Farmers Association has complained to the European Commission that Brazilian ranchers were not obliged to meet the same level of standards required for EU farmers.

According to the IFA, Brazilian beef farmers do not use proper tagging and identification systems that can be used to track disease outbreaks. Irish farmers also claim that Brazilian farmers use growth hormones, have inadequate disease controls and cause environmental damage.

Brazilian beef farmers have hit back, saying that Irish farmers have been protected by high import tariffs and EU subsidies, and a successful WTO deal could cost them US$2.7 billion annually in lost exports.

Head of Brazil's Beef Export Industry Association Marcus Vinicius Pratini de Moraes slammed the Irish claims, acknowledging that while smaller Brazilian beef farmers do not practice traceability, 100 percent of the country's beef exports are traceable.

Pratini de Moraes also pointed out that Brazil prohibits growth hormones for animals and recent EU inspections have revealed no problems.

Irish farmers have every reason for concern as the competitive threat from Brazil, the world's largest beef producer, is very real. Brazilian beef shipments to the EU accounted for 66 percent of imports into the bloc in 2006, and have risen by 20 percent since 2003 despite staggering import tariffs.