Livestock farmers demonstrated outside the EU Commission office in Dublin yesterday at the continuing sale of Brazilian beef in the EU.
The IFA is angry at what it calls the "double standards" of the EU trade regime on beef traceability. Yesterday's protest was staged in response to remarks by Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan last week in Brussels, when she accepted the commission's criticism of a recent IFA report that alleges Brazilian beef is unsafe.
The IFA is seeking a "total" ban on imports from Brazil because of the alleged "failure of Brazil to meet the most basic standards", and because of the risk it believes these imports pose to the livelihoods of Irish livestock farmers.
"I call on the Minister to get fair play for Irish farmers. We expect our Government and our Taoiseach to come out and support us. This campaign is only on the first page," said Pádraig Walshe, president of the IFA, at yesterday's protest.
Martin Territt, director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland, said the IFA campaign concerned competition rather than food safety. "I completely reject the contentions put forward by the IFA. If there was any question about whether it [ Brazilian beef] was unsafe, immediate action would be undertaken."