Ex-food safety boss supports MEP claim that Brazilian beef ban safety deadline cannot be met

The former chairman of the European Food Safety Authority, Dr Patrick Wall, has publicly backed a claim by Independent Ireland MEP Ciaran Mullooly that it is now neither safe, nor technically possible, for Brazilian beef to be restored onto a list of safe countries for exporting beef into Ireland and the EU from September 3rd, 2026.

Dr Wall has said he will accept an invitation from the Independent Ireland MEP and expects to travel to Brussels to meet officials and provide further information on the issue in the coming weeks.

Dr Wall, who is former chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), met with the Midlands North West MEP and Michael Fitzmaurice TD over the weekend.

Speaking after the meeting, Dr Wall said the Brazilian authorities could not meet the deadline set to deal with concerns over the use of microbials and illegal growth promoters set out by the European Commission.

“The Brazilian authorities now have three months to get their act together and I don’t believe this will be possible. The animals being brought to slaughter this coming September will be two years old. We can’t go back two years and retrospectively get reliable traceability. They might start in September of this year going forward, but they won’t be able to go back two years. So, it won’t be possible.”

After the meeting, Mullooly wrote to Olivér Várhelyi, EU Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, asking him to ensure the ban on Brazilian beef entering Ireland and Europe now remains in place. He also referred on Dr Wall’s comments to DG SANTE auditors.

In his letter, Mullooly said: “I feel it is incumbent on me to seek a clear commitment from you that Brazilian beef cannot be restored to the safe list of EU Countries in the foreseeable future until this situation has been addressed.

“Public health and food safety are of the highest concern to me as both an MEP and an EU food consumer.

“I hope you will agree with me that we cannot simply proceed in these circumstances without first addressing the public concerns and must await scientifically proven guarantees on antimicrobial and growth promoter use in Brazil before any move to restore Brazilian beef to a list of safe countries.”

Roscommon Galway TD Michael Fitzmaurice has now called on the Government to raise Dr Wall’s statement at the highest possible level in the European Commission:

“I think it’s important that, our government and the rest of the governments throughout Europe start sending a very clear message to the Commission that this must stop on the 3rd of September. It is my opinion that we have jumped the gun with the Mercosur deal for the simple reason that it doesn’t add up.”