Allister Reports on first day of Brazil mission
29 April 2008
Speaking from Brazil at the end of the first day of the visit of the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament, Jim Allister MEP said:-
We had a series of useful meetings today, mostly with government ministers and departments. A robust session with CNA, the national beef breeders organisation, threw up conflicting views over the efficacy of the EU ban on Brazilian beef. However, the delegation made it very clear that we could not tolerate lesser standards of traceability for imports than we imposed on our own producers.
The Agriculture Minister proved more realistic in accepting that if Brazil wanted to freely export to the EU, then it had to meet the stipulated standards.
We have also had extensive briefing and discussion on the scale and effect of Brazil`s huge bioethanol industry. As a world leader in biofuels their commitment goes to the very heart of the food security and alternative energy debate.
I look forward to moving on to now see some of the farms and processing plants, where we hope to evaluate for ourselves Brazilian methods and standards.
ENDS
