In response to a complaint lodged by the federation Fairness for Farmers in Europe, the European Union’s Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, criticised the European Commission, on 20 July, for its delayed response to risks from imports of Brazilian beef potentially contaminated with foot and mouth disease. He nevertheless rejected the call from the federation of British and Irish farm organisations for a complete ban on Brazilian beef imports.

The EU is currently free of all foot and mouth disease, which is not dangerous to humans but highly contagious for cattle and sheep. In 2001, it was obliged to slaughter thousands of infected animals in Britain.

The farmers’ federation turned to the ombudsman in July 2007, arguing that the Commission should have imposed a total ban on Brazilian beef that same year due to the potential threat to animal health. Due to serious weaknesses in the Brazilian beef control system, the Commission imposed import restrictions that substantially limited the number of approved Brazilian livestock farms allowed to export to the EU. The complainant judged these restrictions insufficient.

The ombudsman sided with the Commission, concluding that a total ban was not justified because, from mid-March, only beef from approved Brazilian farms was authorised for import into the Union. Diamandouros nevertheless criticised the EU executive for allowing Brazilian beef imports from unapproved farms between February and March 2008, and called on it to continue its regular inspections outside the EU.