Mullooly secures AGRI debate on Brazilian beef controls and Northern Ireland safeguards

Ciaran Mullooly MEP secured a debate early this week in the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee, on the lessons from EU controls on Brazilian beef, following the restrictions that took effect on September 3rd. He will press the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Commission for answers on consumer protection and the movement of beef through Northern Ireland.

“The Commission must explain what went wrong in the controls intended to keep beef from cattle treated with oestradiol out of the EU food chain. Was the failure on the farm, at the processing plant, in export certification, at the border or in tracing the beef afterwards? He asked.

“We also need to know when the authorities became aware of the affected consignments and how much was recovered,” Mullooly added.

Oestradiol is a hormone that can be used to promote growth in cattle. Its use for growth promotion is prohibited in the EU, and beef imported from outside the Union must meet the same requirements.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is the EU agency responsible for providing independent scientific advice on risks to food safety.

He will ask EFSA to assess the potential risk to consumers and whether testing at the border can adequately protect them when farm records or export certification cannot be relied upon.

Mullooly will also seek clarity on the separate restrictions that took effect on September 3rd after Brazil did not provide sufficient guarantees of compliance with EU rules on antimicrobial use. These rules prohibit the use of antibiotics to promote growth in farm animals and restrict the use of certain antibiotics reserved for treating serious infections in humans.

Brazil was removed from the EU's authorised list for several animal products, including beef, because it had not provided the required assurances. Mullooly will be asking, “What evidence will the Commission require before exports can resume? Will improvements be independently verified, and will there be a follow-up audit?”

The MEP will raise the gap in mandatory origin labelling for beef used in cooked and processed foods. Unlike fresh beef, which must carry information identifying its origin, beef used as an ingredient in products such as ready meals is not subject to the same mandatory country-of-origin requirements.

“A consumer buying canned beef or a ready meal should be able to find out where the beef came from. I will ask the Commission to address that labelling gap and clarify exactly how the September restrictions apply to processed and composite products,” he stated.

Finally, Mullooly will ask what discussions the Commission has held with the UK under the Windsor Framework about Brazilian beef moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.

The Windsor Framework allows Northern Ireland to remain within the UK while continuing to apply important EU rules on goods and food safety, protecting the EU Single Market and avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland.

This creates a particular need to ensure that beef entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain meets the relevant EU requirements.

“We need clear assurances that beef ineligible for the EU market cannot enter the Irish or wider EU food chain through that route. The Committee debate must establish what safeguards are in place now and what further action is needed,” the MEP stated.