ICSA President Sean McNamara has welcomed news that a complete ban on Brazilian beef entering the EU is to take effect from Thursday September 3rd, pointing out that it vindicated concerns that the ICSA has been raising for years.

‘ICSA has been warning for a long time that Irish beef farmers cannot be expected to compete with Brazilian beef when there are serious questions about whether the same standards apply. Now the EU has taken action because Brazil cannot demonstrate compliance with EU requirements on antimicrobial use. That is a very significant decision as it backs up what farmers have been saying.’

He added that Irish beef farmers put a huge amount of work and money into meeting high standards and should not have to compete against imports where the same standards cannot be demonstrated.

‘This is about consumers. People buying beef should be able to have confidence that it has been produced to the standards farmers here are required to meet.’

He said that with Brazilian beef shut out of the EU market, there is a real risk that more of it will be redirected towards the UK.

‘That would put even more pressure on Irish beef in a market that is so important to our farmers. We cannot stand by and allow Irish farmers to lose further ground. The Government needs to be watching this closely and making sure the interests of Irish beef farmers are not pushed aside. The EU ban applies to Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework and we need proper enforcement and traceability to make sure the EU rules are fully respected.’

Mr McNamara said there must be no watering down of this decision.

‘Brazil should only regain access to the EU market if and when it can verifiably demonstrate that it meets the standards that all European farmers are required to meet.’