The IFA livestock committee has commenced a sit-in protest at the EU Commission offices in Dublin demanding the immediate release of an EU report on Brazilian beef which has been withheld for the last six months.
John Bryan, committee chairman, said the failure of the EU Health & Consumer Protection Commissioner, Markos Kyprianou, to release the report on the last Food and Veterinary office mission to Brazil raiseed serious question marks as to why the findings have been withheld for so long.
He said EU consumers are entitled to straight answers as to why the Commission has withheld the report, especially when the Commission is on record as accepting that there are serious deficiencies with Brazilian standards.
Mr Bryan said the six-month delay undermines the credibility of the report and public confidence in the process, particularly when the EU Commission has a stated political agenda to continue with the importation of beef from Brazil which clearly fails to meet EU standards.
He said there is a widespread belief among livestock farmers that there is a cover-up regarding the double standards on Brazilian beef imports.
