The UK government must ban imports of Brazilian meat and align with EU restrictions which come into force next week, farming unions have said.
In a joint letter to Defra secretary of state Angela Eagle, the NFU, NFU Scotland, Ulster Farmers’ Union and NFU Cymru have called for a UK-wide ban on Brazilian products of animal origin (POAO) from 3 September.
They have warned that failure to act could put public health, farm businesses and public confidence in UK food at risk.
The EU has banned the import after Brazil was unable to demonstrate compliance with EU rules on antimicrobial resistance, which are designed to prevent the development of antibiotic-resistant infections. The ban also applies to a number of European Economic Area countries, including Norway.
“Ensuring the health and safety of the nation is a core responsibility of any government and the UK has long recognised the risks posed by AMR,” said the presidents of the farming unions. “UK farmers have worked hard to cut antibiotic use and maintain some of the highest production standards in the world – we should demand the same of our imported food.”
The use of antibiotics for growth promotion has been banned in the UK and EU since 2006, and UK farmers have voluntarily reduced the use of antibiotics by almost 60% since 2014, using them only when there is a clinical need.
In the letter, the unions warned that failure to act would undermine progress, leave public health exposed to AMR and threaten public confidence in the beef and poultry sectors.
The organisations outlined the significant risk of consumers not being aware of what they’re eating, as most Brazilian meat goes into the UK’s foodservice sector, which does not require country of origin labelling.
“Failure to act will not only expose the nation to a public health risk, but damage consumer confidence in beef and poultry as a whole,” said the presidents. “Combined with the additional complications it would cause trading with our farming colleagues in Northern Ireland and the very real threat of Brazilian meat being diverted onto the GB market, it would only pile further pressure on producers here at home.
“The absence of any government response is unacceptable, particularly when there is a direct risk to public health and credible reports of significant disruption across the GB supply chain.”
As well as banning the import of all Brazilian POAO from 3 September, the unions have also called for an audit of Brazilian production and traceability systems, an increase in the rate of checks on Brazilian POAO entering the UK and the establishment of a wider UK framework on core production standards to apply to domestic and imported agri-food products equally.
“The UK government must take action now to protect the British public from the health risks posed by antimicrobial resistance, maintain public trust in our food system, and show our farmers it backs home-grown food production,” they concluded.
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