NFU Scotland this week wrote to MEP Alyn Smith – who has just returned from a fact-finding mission to Brazilian beef farms and meat plants – to seek assurances at European level that before any import deal is struck, the animal health issues will be properly addressed.
The union's concerns were echoed by the Scottish Beef Cattle Association, which warned that Scotland's beef sector could become the victim of other countries' biosecurity failures – especially with Brazil identified as a potential source of foot-and-mouth
(For the full story see The Scottish Farmer next week, December 8 2012)
