The UK government has controversially decided to allow imports of Brazilian meat to continue, despite serious concerns about widespread irresponsible antibiotic use in Brazilian farming [1][2].
In doing so, the UK will diverge from the EU and Norway, which are planning on banning the importation of meat, dairy and eggs from Brazil on 3 September because of Brazil’s use of antibiotics for growth promotion [3]. Brazil banned some antibiotic growth promoters earlier this year, but others remain in use [4].
The EU and the UK banned the use of antibiotic growth promoters for their own farmers in 2006 but, up until now, have continued to permit the practice for imports. On 3 September, a new EU rule will ban the importation of all food products derived from animals that may have received antibiotic growth promoters.
It had been expected that the UK would align with the EU ban, since not doing so will create problems with the UK’s internal market [5]. Northern Ireland is required to follow EU trade rules which means that any processed foods containing Brazilian beef or poultry will not be able to move from Great Britain to Northern Ireland [1].
The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics and farming and veterinary organisations have been calling for the UK to align with the EU ban, to protect UK consumers health and to avoid undermining UK farming standards [6][7][8].
Cóilín Nunan of the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics said: “This is a hugely disappointing decision. Brazilian exports banned by the EU may now be redirected towards Britain, leading to British consumers eating more meat produced with irresponsible antibiotic use.
The rise of antibiotic resistance is a major threat to human health and to modern medicine. This is why British farmers haven’t been allowed to use antibiotic growth promoters for twenty years. So how can it be justified that the practice is still permitted for imports?”
According to an analysis by Rabobank, Brazil currently accounts for about 25% of EU beef imports and 25% of EU poultry meat imports and, once the ban is implemented, Brazil will likely try to sell more meat to other markets, including the UK [9].
Defra and the and the Animal and Plant Health Agency have told importers that Great Britain will not introduce new restrictions on Brazilian products of animal origin on 3 September, and will instead undertake its own assessment of Brazil’s antibiotic controls, which is expected to take six months [1][10].
The EU says that Brazilian imports will only be able to resume if Brazil can ensure compliance with the new rules for the entire lifetime of the animals [11].
However, an investigation published last year by the Irish Farmers Journal and the Irish Farmers Association revealed that in Brazil many antibiotics, including some classified as highest-priority critically important in human medicine, could be bought over the counter, without a veterinary prescription, and that traceability rules were not being applied [12].
Cóilín Nunan said: “The rise of antibiotic resistance is a global health crisis. Each year it is directly responsible for about 1.14 million deaths and associated with 4.71 million deaths [13]. We know that resistant pathogens can spread internationally on food. So why are we still importing meat from countries like Brazil that are allowing the irresponsible use on intensive farms of even the most critically important antibiotics?”
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