Proposals that could dramatically cut the amount of Brazilian beef being imported into the EU from March next will be put to a meeting of EU commissioners tomorrow.
The proposals being made by the EU commissioner for health and consumer affairs, Markos Kyprianou, would restrict the number of farms in Brazil from which beef would be accepted in the EU.
While it is not known how deeply this would affect the current level of 338,000 tonnes of beef entering the EU from Brazil, sources in Brussels indicated that it could be significant.
It is understood that the EU would insist that these designated farms be strictly policed, their identities be made public and that they would be subject to EU inspection.
However, the EU would allow beef from Brazil already in transit to enter the EU until March 15th next year, when the new system would be put in place.
Mr Kyprianou is seeking to impose the restrictions because of the failure of the Brazilian authorities to rectify irregularities found in beef production and management systems by the EU Food and Veterinary Organisation.
It has sent two missions to Brazil in the last 12 months and these raised concerns about traceability, monitoring and the failure to address problems uncovered on the first trip. The campaign against the importation of Brazilian beef has been led by the Irish Farmers Association, which visited the country on two occasions and reported a lack of controls on animal movement that could lead to foot-and-mouth disease being imported here.
Yesterday, the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan, met the commissioner and raised the issue of the recent report of the Food and Veterinary Office in Brazil.
In a statement issued last night she said she had been assured by the commissioner that "he will not hesitate to take appropriate protection measures if product from a third country does not reach required standards or controls".
She said she was convinced that Mr Kyprianou would follow through on his commitment to her.
The Minister said she had set out in detail the attention she had given to the issue over the past two years.
She added that she had relentlessly pursued the European Commission to implement the requirement that produce imported from third countries should meet similar standards to those required of European Union producers. She said that following the meeting she was very pleased the commission was clearly taking the matter very seriously and she was satisfied they were fully cognisant of their responsibilities in the matter.
Mr Kyprianou may face opposition from commission colleagues on his proposals, especially from the commission president, José Manuel Barroso, and from some southern European and Scandinavian commissioners.