The recall of Brazilian beef across numerous EU countries is a stark and alarming warning of the dangers posed by lower-standard imports entering the UK and Northern Ireland food chain, says the Ulster Farmers’ Union. The recall follows findings from an Irish Farmers Journal/Irish Farmers’ Association exposé, which revealed banned hormones in Brazilian beef consignments imported into Europe earlier this month.
UFU deputy president Glenn Cuddy said, “The situation confirms long-standing UFU concerns that Brazil’s production systems do not provide the levels of safety, traceability, and oversight required to protect public health or safeguard the integrity of local food markets.
“This is an extremely serious public-health incident, and Northern Ireland is among the affected regions. For years, farmers here have operated under some of the strictest food-safety, traceability, and animal-health standards in the world. Yet we are now seeing products enter our market from systems that do not meet the same basic requirements.”
The deputy president highlighted that the recall damages consumer confidence in the beef supply chain as a whole, despite local producers’ commitment to stringent standards.
“Brazil’s ongoing issues around hormones, antibiotics, and traceability demonstrate that the so-called safeguards being discussed simply do not work in real-world conditions. This is not a hypothetical risk. It has already happened. Beef has entered Europe containing substances that are banned for good reason.”
Mr Cuddy also stressed that the UK and Northern Ireland have invested heavily in high-welfare production systems, environmental improvements, and world-leading food-safety measures, yet the introduction of large volumes of low-cost beef from Brazil and other Mercosur countries, produced under weaker regulations, distorts the market.
“Allowing cheaper products from countries with weaker requirements to enter the market would reward poorer practices abroad, and punish farmers here who are doing things right,” he said.
“At a time when families across Northern Ireland are sitting down to locally produced food, this incident serves as a powerful reminder of the value of a trusted, traceable, home-produced supply. Our food sector and consumers must back local producers, not undermine them through cheaper, riskier imports.”
Mr Cuddy added that Northern Ireland’s farmers produce ‘world-class beef and lamb’ which is safe, sustainable, and fully traceable from farm to fork, and warned that this must not be sacrificed in pursuit of trade deals that prioritise external markets over domestic food security.
Commenting on ongoing discussions about strengthened safeguards for imports under Mercosur, he said the latest recall shows these claims cannot be relied upon.
“The so-called safeguards have already failed,” he said.
“If banned hormone-treated beef has passed abattoir checks in Brazil, entered Europe and reached supermarket shelves, then the system is not fit for purpose.”
