EU finds Brazilian beef traceability on a slide

 

 

A report published by the EU Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) suggested that the traceability issues in Brazil are getting from bad to worse.

 

Early last year, the EU imposed a near-total ban on Brazilian beef imports unless they were sourced from EU-approved farms.

 

But the FVO report found that 50 percent of the EU-approved farms have failed to meet requisite protocols. Out of 12 farms inspected, six were found to be non-compliant. On three of the farms, EU inspectors discovered fraudulent practices regarding tagging, movement controls and traceability.

 

On one farm, a department of agriculture official stamped and signed a movement notification backdated by seven months. On another, 50 animals were tagged and placed on the database 14 months before they were born. Another inspection found that 22 cattle had been re-identified following the loss of their original ear tags.

 

The report also found problems in another three farms. In the first farm, a department official failed to take account of 1,264 cattle already present in the feedlot.

 

Serious issues regarding conflicts of interest were found on two units - department officials were acting as veterinary surgeons and an official actually owned some of the cattle.

 

Failures in movement controls and traceability were also detected.

 

Irish Farmers' Association president Padraig Walshe said the FVO report confirmed that Brazil's system has failed and the EU must bring an immediate halt to the process that has cleared more than 1,200 Brazilian farms to date.

 

Walshe said several FVO reports have confirmed the point that the Brazilian authorities are incapable or unprepared to take the necessary steps to meet EU standards, and the EU Commission must re-impose a total ban on Brazilian beef imports.

 

Walshe continued that the FVO inspection also identified serious deficiencies regarding certification, particularly in relation to fresh bovine meat shipments introduced into the EU for transit to third countries.

 

More than 20 such consignments from Brazil did not have the appropriate certificates, Walshe revealed. 

 

Much of the beef in those consignments had not undergone maturation and 50 percent of the product came from regions unapproved for export to the EU, according to Walshe.