A European audit has found that measures meant to prevent beef treated with hormones from being exported to Europe are still not working properly. The agreements were intended to ensure that exports to the European market comply with regulations.
The problems came to light after meat was previously found to contain a banned growth hormone. This led to a renewed inspection of the system designed to prevent such meat from entering the European food chain.
Competition
It is mainly the European meat industry that is now calling for strict EU controls due to fears of South American competition once the Mercosur trade agreement comes into effect. Despite protests from European farmers and environmental organizations, the European Commission plans to implement the agreement, although a legal review is still underway.
Promotion
The additional audit revealed that Brazil had previously committed to blocking exports of meat from animals treated with the hormone oestradiol. This was to be done through a new control system for cattle destined for the European market.
Still Not Good Enough
According to European inspectors, the laboratories testing for hormones now largely operate according to the agreed methods. However, other parts of the system are still not functioning adequately.
The main shortcoming lies in the practical execution of the protocol. In the initial phase, the system failed sufficiently to prevent cattle that did not meet requirements from entering the export chain.
Oestradiol
An example concerns a group of 174 cattle treated with oestradiol. Despite this treatment, these animals received certificates allowing them to qualify for slaughter and export to Europe.
Ultimately, this resulted in fifteen shipments of beef exported to European countries. According to the audit, European authorities were not fully informed about what happened to these shipments after the problems were discovered.
The issue also occurs against the backdrop of earlier measures in Brazil. The export of beef to Europe was temporarily suspended but later resumed even though the implementation of the new control system had not yet been fully completed.