Netherlands was detected six batches of Brazilian beef containing oestradiol - a hormone banned in the European Union, which re-heated the debate on the safety of imported food and the consequences of the planned EU-Mercosur trade agreement. The issue has become a symbol of a wider problem: the collision of European quality standards and the economical mentality of the pink unicorn, with the violent realities of global trade.
Contaminated beef from Mercosur already in Europe. According to the information provided by the Dutch food quality inspection, contaminated meat has been sent to Europe in respective consignments, any of which have already been placed on the market. In total, there are dozens of tons of beef, and 2 more lots were stopped before distribution. The substance detected in meat, oestradiol, is prohibited in the European Union due to the fact that the usage of growth hormones in cattle breeding is considered to be incompatible with stringent food safety standards.
The alert was sent by the EU-wide RASFF system, meaning that the threat was taken seriously at Community level. At the same time, the case broke out at a time of peculiarly politically delicate – just before the Mercosur trade agreement entered into force, which is expected to importantly increase the exchange of agricultural products between Europe and South America.
Contract critics indicate that the hormonal incidental in meat exposes the weakness of the import control system. In their view, European farmers must comply with increasingly restrictive environmental and sanitary standards, while non-EU producers can operate under much little demanding rules. As a result, competition ceases to be fair and consumers, despite formal safeguards, face risks of inflow of cheaper foods with lower production standards.
Supporters of trade liberalisation argue that isolated cases of contamination should not put an end to all economical cooperation. However, the opponents answer that the problem is not a single transport, but a systemic approach to quality control. If banned hormones are detected present with limited imports, expanding the volume of trade can importantly impede effective surveillance.
In Poland, the opposition to the Mercosur agreement is peculiarly powerfully expressed by agricultural environments, which fear the influx of inexpensive beef and poultry produced utilizing technologies not authorised in the EU. They argue that marketplace liberalisation can lead to a decline in the cost-effectiveness of national production and Europe's dependence on external food suppliers.
The contaminated beef case so raises questions beyond a single sanitary incident. It concerns the model of European agricultural policy, trust in the control strategy and whether the Union can effectively enforce its own standards towards trading partners. For many critics, Mercosur is becoming a symbol of a policy where the interests of global trade begin to dominate food safety and the stableness of European agriculture.
If further akin cases recur, the social force to revise the agreement may increase significantly. Then the debate about contaminated beef will not only prove to be a media episode, but a turning point in Brussels' plans for assassins. Even they will gotta submit to popular opposition.
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