PARTIAL EU BAN ON BRAZILIAN BEEF WELCOME

12.00.00am GMT Wed 19th Dec 2007

Liz Lynne MEP, Liberal Democrat Agriculture spokesperson for England and Wales in the European Parliament, has welcomed today's announcement by the European Commission of a large-scale reduction in the number of farms in Brazil that are approved to export beef to the European Union.

The partial ban follows concerns over lax standards, instances of foot and mouth disease and a lack of traceability of livestock in many areas of Brazil.

Commenting on the announcement today, Liz Lynne said:

"If Brazilian beef is to be sold in Europe, checks in Brazil must be as strict as they are for our own farmers. As this is currently not happening, restrictions are necessary until their inspection system can be brought up to scratch."

"Farmers and traders in Brazil are widely suspected of cutting corners and getting around the law, still selling livestock from regions with an export ban in place or even from Paraguay and Bolivia, where FMD remains a serious concern. This can then be marketed as 'safe' Brazilian beef, from approved regions.

?Restrictions introduced in the UK following the latest Foot and Mouth outbreak were severe and appear to have worked quickly, but there is simply no point in acting to save EU livestock from British FMD if the disease can sneak into Europe via the back door."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The European Union imported 330,000 tonnes of Brazilian beef last year. Until today there were more than 6,000 farms in Brazil?s registration and identification database that are located in zones approved for export to the EU.

Today's announcement follows the most recent inspection visit by EU vets to Brazil last month that reportedly turned up a number of deficiencies in controls on identification and movement of cattle.