EU to restrict imports of beef from Brazil

Finland imports around 2 million kilos of Brazilian beef each year

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The European Union is to limit the import of Brazilian beef into the Union.
      The EU justifies its decision by referring to the inadequate cattle registration and monitoring systems used in Brazil.
      "A functioning monitoring system is crucial in preventing the spreading of animal diseases. The foot and mouth disease, for one, is found in Brazil", says veterinary officer Leena Salin of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
      The European Commission ruling becomes effective at the end of January.
      In the future, Brazil will only be able to export beef into the Union from farms recognised by the EU.
     
Only a fraction of the Brazilian beef producers are currently applying a monitoring system that satisfies the EU criteria.
      According to beef importers, bringing in beef from Brazil threatens to stop altogether. A steep rise in the price of imported beef is also likely to follow.
      "The new restrictions will reduce the number of recognised beef farms in Brazil from 6,000 to around 300", says managing director Peter Rajalin of the Finnish beef import firm STC-Meat Oy.
      According to Rajalin, the planned restrictions are already showing up in the price of beef imported from South America.
      "The EU may face an unprecedented beef shortage in the coming weeks", Rajalin warns.
     
Of the beef consumed in the EU, an estimated 20 percent comes from Brazil. In Finland, two million kilograms of Brazilian beef were sold in 2006. The sales peak took place during the summer’s barbeque season.
      "From Brazil, Finland imports filet and sirloin steak in particular, so our greatest shortage will be of the most precious parts of the carcass", Rajalin reckons.
      Rajalin believes, as a reaction, the Finnish import merchants will increase purchases from Argentina, Uruguay, and some European countries, which do not fall under the scope of the new restrictions.
      "Brazil is by far the largest country from where we import, so the other countries are unlikely to bridge the gap entirely."
      The EU Commission has announced that it will follow the development of the situation in Brazil during the course of the spring. If the monitoring systems are improved, the restrictions will be lifted.
     
In the past couple of years Brazil has become the world’s largest beef exporter. According to environmental organisations, the rapid expansion of stock raising is partly to blame for the increased deforestation and soil erosion.
      "The EU import restrictions do not have to do with environmental issues. The most crucial factor is the prevention of the spreading of animal diseases. Imported meat has to comply with the same animal disease and hygiene standards as the meat produced within the Union", Leena Salin explains.
      Rajalin, in turn, suspects that the real reason behind the move is to protect the Union’s own beef production. "The decision smacks of sheer protectionism", he argues.


Links:
  EU Press release 19.12.2007

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