IFA warns ‘angel dust’ beef may reach Irish market

Beef from cattle raised with hormones and an angel dust derivative could appear on Irish supermarket shelves if EU negotiators do not take a firm line with the US in Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has warned.

It is illegal to use growth-promoting hormones or chemicals such as beta agonists in Europe but US farmers can use these to speed up muscle growth.

Trade deal

IFA livestock executive secretary Kevin Kinsella said European commissioners, including Irish agriculture commissioner

Phil Hogan

, had repeatedly said Europe would not allow the importation of hormone beef if a trade deal is agreed.

He said US farmers did not individually tag their cattle to identify them and did not have an animal database so it would be very difficult to know if beef was produced with these substances or not.

He said he had visited a US ranch where the farmer explained that cattle received seven different doses of hormones from a relatively young age.

“Also on that ranch they were compounding the feed and they were using Ractopamine, which is a derivative of angel dust. It’s legal in the US. The issue is how do you differentiate between the non-use and the use of that in terms of access to the market?”

He was speaking as the IFA published its position paper on the EU-US trade deal.

IFA president Eddie Downey said it was critically important that European negotiators were not overenthusiastic in trying to get a deal because this could result in agriculture being sacrificed.

There were “massive opportunities for trade in the US” but there were also lines in the sand that must not be crossed.

Mr Downey said the EU must not reach a trade agreement with the US which clashes with EU climate-change objectives. This would happen if the trade deal allowed the replacement of carbon-efficient Irish produce on the EU market with carbon-intensive US imports.

Agri-food sector

IFA economist

Rowena Dwyer

said that while

Ireland

had a strong trading relationship with the US, the business done by the agri-food sector was relatively small.

Last year the US accounted for some 5 per cent of our total food and drink exports, and much of this involved the export of drinks. However, Ireland recently became the first EU state to be approved for beef exports, and she said there was potential for high-value dairy exports.

Ms Dwyer said EU negotiators must insist on the same standards being applied to US beef as the standards being upheld in the EU.

“All US imports must meet the same animal health, welfare, traceability and environmental standards as is required of EU producers.”

She said hormones were widely used in the US dairy sector to boost milk production but products containing these hormones must not be allowed for sale in Europe because this hormone use was widely seen as being unacceptable from an animal welfare perspective.