This article is from page 38 of the 2007-08-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 38 JPG
AS BRITISH authorities downgrad- ed the chance of any further spread of foot and mouth to ‘very low’ over the weekend, the Irish Farmers As- sociation (IFA) has attacked the Irish Army for it’s use of Brazilian beef. Many in the farming community believe that contaminated Brazilian beef was to blame for the foot and mouth outbreak in the UK and have called for an outright EU wide ban on imported beef from South America. The IFA’s National Livestock Chairman, John Bryan, described as ‘a disgrace’ that the Irish Army pro- vide imported Brazilian beef to Irish soldiers on duty. “Livestock farmers
will be appalled that this is happen- ing and that Brazilian beef is being brought in the back door by the State to feed our troops. It 1s incredible to think that a British trading company is allowed supply the Irish Army with Brazilian beef.”
“T have to seriously question the Army’s purchasing policies. From IFA’s investigations in Brazil, we know their production standards do not meet EU requirements.
‘“T am therefore calling on the Min- ister for Defence, Willie O’Dea, to order an immediate investigation of this embarrassing revelation. The Department of Defence must ur- gently review the specifications for Army food procurement contracts to
ensure proper standards and quality assurance, and that Irish suppliers are well placed to fill contracts with meat of Irish origin.”
The use of Brazilian beef by the Irish Army was discover by IFA Livestock Vice-Chairman, Michael Doran, who joined in calls for an in- vestigation. “As a livestock farmer, I was disgusted to find out that the State was involved in purchasing Brazilian beef,” he said.
Meanwhile, across the water tests on three location where foot and mouth had been suspected all re- turned negative last week.
Chessington World of Adventures and Zoo in Surrey, a farm in Romney Marsh, Kent, and a meat processing
plant in Merthry, south Wales, were given the all-clear by British Gov- ernment scientists on Thursday
Temporary control zones restrict- ing the movement of livestock in the areas have been lifted.
One Scottish man is claiming to have already lost thousands because his famous ‘dancing sheep’ have been unable to perform as a result of restricted movement.
Stuart Barnes was on tour in Scot- land wide with ‘the Sheep Show’ when the outbreak happened.
The show, described as ‘an educa- tional 30-minute show which fea- tures dancing sheep doing The Hus- tle’, has been grounded as a result of the foot and mouth outbreak.