The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) is calling on the UK government to place a precautionary ban on imports of Brazilian beef and chicken, if the country cannot show that it is using antibiotics responsibly.

The call comes after the EU asked Brazil to provide evidence that its beef and poultry products are not derived from animals that have been treated with critical antimicrobials that are reserved for human health, or used for growth promotion or yield improvement.

The EU has set a deadline of 3 September and has said it will remove Brazil’s authorisation to export products of animal origin to the bloc. So far, Brazil has been unable to demonstrate that it is adhering to EU rules.

The NFU has long-called for a set of core production standards that would apply to both domestically produced and imported food sold in the UK.

Stressing that a failure to mirror any EU ban here in the UK risks eroding public trust in the food sold in the UK, NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: “Maintaining trust in British meat must remain a priority and that’s why we advocate for clear country of origin labelling, particularly in the food service industry.”

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The NFU stressed it would also undermine UK farmers’ “world-leading work” on antimicrobial resistance – the rise of infections in animals and humans that are unaffected by some of our most important medicines – with potential impacts for public health.

According to the union, there has been an impressive voluntary effort there has reduced UK sales of farm antibiotics by 60 per cent since 2014, while retaining use for clinical needs. The reduction in the use of antibiotics critically important for human health stands at 83 per cent.

The use of antibiotics for growth promotion has been banned in the UK and EU since 2006.

“A key responsibility of government is to ensure that products entering the UK are safe and do not pose a public health risk,” Tom continued.

“Unless there is full confidence that Brazilian meat has been produced responsibly, the government should take the same precautionary approach as the EU and ban the import of Brazilian products. It should also increase the frequency of testing for products entering the UK from high and medium risk countries such as Brazil.

“If it does not, there are wider reputational risks for the British beef and poultry sectors. Public confidence could be undermined if consumers believe the UK is importing beef or poultry meat that the EU has deemed unsafe.”

Photo by Mario Garcia on Unsplash