The Ulster Farmers' Union has called for import standards to be upheld after a European Commission audit of Thailand's poultry export system found that the guarantees certified on export health certificates are "undermined by significant and systemic shortcomings". The audit, carried out in June, acknowledged that Thailand has an official control system for poultry meat and products bound for the EU but identified weaknesses in traceability, veterinary controls, official verification of HACCP food-safety procedures and the separation of products eligible and ineligible for the EU market.

Auditors also found that staff did not always understand certain EU export requirements, and noted further departures from EU rules in some official control guidelines.

UFU deputy president Clement Lynch said the findings reinforce the need for robust food standards, transparent labelling and fair competition. "Northern Ireland consumers have every right to know where their food comes from and to have confidence that imported products are produced to standards equal to those required of local farmers," he said. Local poultry producers invest heavily in health, welfare, food safety, environmental protection, traceability and assurance, he said, and "it is only right that imported products seeking access to our market are held to equally high standards".

Lynch said farmers grow frustrated at meeting ever-increasing regulation while serious concerns are raised about other countries' control systems, and that the issue goes beyond one country or commodity: clear country-of-origin labelling lets consumers support local farmers and shorten food miles. "In the same way that governments recognise the importance of energy security, we must also recognise that food security is national security," he said. "We are not opposed to trade, but trade must be fair," and where serious shortcomings are found in an export system they should be fixed before further market-access concessions are considered. Reporting by Aisling O'Brien.

Photo: USDA / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Source: Agriland