Beef from Brazil will be kept out of the European Union for at least two years, and no date has been set for its return, a European Commission food-safety official indicated to MEPs on 28 September, Agriland reports.

The EU suspended imports of Brazilian beef, poultry and other animal products from 3 September over concerns about Brazil's compliance with EU requirements on antimicrobial use throughout an animal's life. The Commission has now confirmed that a proper traceability regime must be in place from birth, so even if Brazil fixed every problem now, only beef from animals born afterwards could be exported to the bloc.

Eric Thevenard, the Commission's director of health and food audits, told the European Parliament's agriculture committee that he did not know when Brazil could export beef to the EU again. "In short, the time between birth and slaughter, let's say, will be around two years. So you can calculate yourself; nothing before two years in theory," he said. He was questioned by Irish MEP Ciaran Mullooly.

Mullooly said afterwards that the Commission had confirmed its concerns about Brazil's controls on the hormone oestradiol remain unresolved, and that officials indicated an audit of Brazil's antimicrobial controls would be scheduled only when there is a realistic prospect of trade resuming. "Brazilian beef must not return to the EU market until compliance with all applicable EU requirements has been demonstrated and independently checked," he said.

The two-year estimate reflects how long it takes to raise a beef animal to slaughter in Brazil, one of the world's largest beef exporters.

Photo: Eduardo Ferraz Pacheco de Castro e Sebastião de Oliveira / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Source: Agriland