Nicholson launches Campaign to Ban Brazilian Beef
Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson has launched a high profile campaign this evening in the European Parliament in Strasbourg to ban imports of Brazilian beef to the EU.
Mr Nicholson, along with Conservative MEP Neil Parish, Chairman of the European Parliament’s agriculture committee and 3 other MEPs have co sponsored a written declaration in the Parliament calling on the European Commission to ban beef imports from Brazil.
This issue featured high on the agenda when Mr Parish visited Northern Ireland last month to meet with representatives from the local farming industry.
Momentum for a ban on Brazilian beef imports has been growing since the European Parliament’s agriculture committee heard damning evidence in July, about the standards of Brazilian beef, from the Irish Farmers Association and Irish Farmers Journal who visited Brazil in May to investigate the situation.
Speaking from Strasbourg this evening Mr Nicholson said,
“It is time the European Commission took its head out of the sand on this issue. Brazilian beef is banned from entering the US, South Korea and other countries because, time after time, it has been proven to be of a sub – standard nature. Traceability is non-existent, there are no controls at regional borders, no controls on animal movement and there are risks of further Foot and Mouth outbreaks.
“At present Northern Ireland’s farmers must comply with the high standards laid down by the EU in terms of health, food safety and traceability so why shouldn’t imports coming into the EU from other countries do the same? The reality is that if Brazilian beef imports are continued to be allowed into the EU then more and more farmers in Northern Ireland and across Europe risk being put out of business. With the cost of production rising, it is hard to see how our farmers can compete with these cheap imports.”