European Commission chiefs were today accused of a "cover-up" of food safety risks after they rejected Irish farmers' demands for an EU ban on Brazilian beef imports.
A report compiled by the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) and the Irish Farmers' Journalclaims the South American country was flouting cattle traceability procedures and using illegal hormones.
The IFA said the half a million tonnes of Brazilian beef imported into the EU every year are placing food safety at an unacceptable risk.
However, the EC today claimed the IFA allegations were based on previously published information and were misleading. It said that the farms visited by the IFA delegation in Brazil were in two states that are already banned from exporting beef to the EU, and in a third state that is only partly authorised.
The commission also claimed the IFA did not visit any slaughterhouses, laboratories or veterinary offices in the country.
EU Commissioner for Public Health and Food Safety, Markos Kyprianou, said: "Overall, the allegations in the report were based on an incorrect interpretation of EU requirements for beef imports."
"My officials are constantly monitoring the situation in Brazil as regards beef exports issue. Our decisions on food imports are based solely on food safety and protection of health, irrespective of economic interests. We are prepared to propose any additional measures necessary to protect EU consumers".
The IFA report will today be presented to the European Parliament Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. The IFA's dossier also highlights the alleged widespread illegal tag removal from cattle by Brazilian farmers, which is used to trace the source of animals before they are slaughtered.
The IFA delegation also said they filmed farmers using hormone growth promoters that are banned in the EU and that a DVD of the footage will be provided to the committee.
Speaking at the European Parliament in Brussels today, IFA president Padraig Walshe accused Mr Kyprianou of "an attempted cover up" of what he said were "intolerable risks to European food safety and animal health from the systematic failures of Brazil to meet the most basic standards and controls in livestock production". Mr Walshe said the commissioner had "used all the resources at his disposal in an attempt to undermine the findings of the IFA mission which had exposed the true picture on the ground in Brazil".
"Commissioner Kyprianou has admitted that the vast majority of farms in Brazil have no tagging or traceability system in place. He claims the requirements on identification, registration or traceability, are not based on any concept of EU equivalency in the Brazilian system with those in force in the EU," Mr Walshe added.
Mr. Walshe insisted the IFA mission had witnessed "at first hand the total circumvention of the rules in Brazil".
Additional reporting: PA