British government and EU officials faced demands from Northern Ireland farmers today to ban Brazilian imports of beef because of the country's persistent problems with foot-and-mouth disease.
The call was made by newly elected Ulster Farmers' Union president Kenneth Sharkey.
Mr Sharkey said: "The impact of the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak is still fresh in the mind and no one in the industry wants to return to that scenario.
"The government and the European Union must respond to the ongoing incidence of foot and mouth in Brazil by banning imports.
"Countries around the world have responded by imposing bans on Brazilian beef, but the UK market remains wide open.
"It's time that our import control policies were taken more seriously, as is the case in many other countries."
Restrictions have been imposed on Brazilian beef by Israel, Russia and the Ukraine.
"We must protect our industry not only from foot and mouth, but also from various other disease sources which we are currently free of, including protecting the potato industry from brown rot and the vegetable sector from Colorado beetle," the UFU president said.
"We have an inherent advantage because we live on an island, but this must be strengthened with effective import controls."
Mr Sharkey also said the retail sector also had a responsibility to ensure Northern Ireland was not unnecessarily exposed to risks from imported products.
PA