President of the IFA Pádraig Walshe has called for Martin Territt, director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland, to be recalled to Brussels because of what the IFA sees as his "partisan" and "prejudicial" position regarding the IFA's objection to the sale of Brazilian beef in Europe.
In a letter seen by The Irish Times, Mr Walshe asked president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso to recall Mr Territt because he is alleged to have lost the confidence of farmers. Mr Walshe also claimed Mr Territt has "embroiled the European Commission Representation in Dublin in a controversy that is detrimental to the European project".
Mr Territt told The Irish Times yesterday that the position of the commission in relation to the IFA report was made clear by European Commissioner for Health Markos Kyprianou. "This position has been reiterated by me on a number of occasions and the commission stands over its position in relation to Brazilian beef".
The IFA is angered by public comments made by Mr Territt when he rejected contentions put forward by the IFA, alleging that Brazilian beef is unsafe following an IFA protest outside the European Commission Representation in Ireland last week. Mr Territt said yesterday he does not think the Commission has lost the confidence of Irish farmers. "The Commission shows very strong support for EU and Irish farming. One billion euros per annum shows very tangible support for Irish farming," he said.
In his letter to Mr Barroso, Mr Walshe said the recent IFA report criticising the quality of Brazilian beef had been accepted by the Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel and that Mr Territt had "overstepped his authority" with claims that the report is misleading.
The IFA has called on Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan to support its demand for a "total ban" on imports from Brazil because of what they call the "double standards" of the EU trade regime.