The farming case was led by the Irish Farmers’ Association, based on a report it had prepared after a visit to Brazil.

A delegation visited 42 farms and discovered ‘a total lack of any robust system of traceability’ and what it said were poor controls against foot-and-mouth disease.

But in a 26-page rebuttal, Mr Kyprianou dismissed the report, querying whether they had looked at cattle destined for export rather than the domestic market or visited any export abattoirs or testing laboratories.

His report was a clinical destruction of the IFA case, in which he suggested a one-week visit by farmers could not be compared with up to four visits a year by trained veterinary inspectors from the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO).

In a letter to EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, who appears to be more sympathetic to industry concerns over Brazilian beef, Mr Kyprianou said the IFA’s allegation were ‘incorrect’ and ‘misleading’.

Source: Farmers Guardian