October 10, 2006

Brazil's farm lobby to meet EU food official

The Brazilian Agriculture Confederation (CAN), one of the country's largest farm lobbies, said it will meet with European Union commissioner for food safety, Markos Kypriano, on Tuesday (Oct 10) to discuss Brazil's animal health system.

The group, which represents some of Brazil's largest commercial cattle ranching interests, will discuss disease control and agro-chemical residue on food exports. The EU has charged this year that Brazil's animal health system was not up to European standards.

Last week, an EU mission said that while Brazil improved its animal health system in 2006, it was still lacking on a number of measures required by EU food safety standards and gave Brazil until 2007 to meet the requirements or face export restrictions.

"This is a very important meeting for us. The EU Commission is being pressured by both consumers and the productive sector to do something and we are feeling the heat. We've been visited by EU food safety teams four times this year when they usually only visit once," said Antonio Donizete Beraldo, coordinator of CNA's foreign trade department. Beraldo will meet with Kyrpiano on Tuesday.

Beraldo said the EU has already banned imports of Brazilian honey and is now threatening to ban exports of shrimp because of toxic residue. But the group's biggest concern is the billion dollar a year meat and chicken industry, of which the EU is the segment's biggest market.

The EU has bans on beef from Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana and Sao Paulo states because of a

 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in two of those states last October. Sao Paulo does not have foot-and-mouth disease but shares a border with both states. Brazil is the world's leading beef and chicken exporter.

Kypriano met with Agriculture Minister Luis Carlos Guedes Pinto and Foreign Trade Minister Celso Amorim on Monday.