HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland, which holds the European Union’s rotating chairmanship, called on Friday for the EU to look into the possibility of banning Brazilian beef from its markets due to devastation caused by fires in the Amazon rainforest.

“Finance Minister Mika Lintila condemns the destruction of Amazon rainforests and suggests that the EU and Finland should urgently review the possibility of banning Brazilian beef imports,” Finland’s finance ministry said in a statement. </s> Finland and the European Union are considering a ban on the import of Brazilian beef, citing the Latin American country's failed environmental policies, amid record wildfires in the Amazon rainforest, the Finnish government said in a statement on Friday

HELSINKI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd August, 2019) Finland and the European Union are considering a ban on the import of Brazilian beef, citing the Latin American country's failed environmental policies, amid record wildfires in the Amazon rainforest, the Finnish government said in a statement on Friday.

"Finance Minister Mika Lintila condemns the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and informs that the European Union and Finland are considering a ban on the import of Brazilian beef," the statement read.

According to the statement, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Prime Minister Antti Rinne, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and other members of the government have also raised concerns over the situation in Brazil.

Finland is currently chairing the European Union.

Lintila noted that the discussion of the issue would be launched in September if there was no progress by that time.

Serious wildfires have been making their way through the Amazon for three weeks now. According to satellite data provided by the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research, there has been an over 80 percent increase in the number of wildfires between this year and last year, which is an unprecedented rate.

The situation is blamed on the right-wing policies led by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who encouraged deforestation by loggers and farmers.

French President Emmanuel Macron urged the G7 leaders to discuss the issue at the upcoming summit in the French resort city of Biarritz from August 24-26. </s> Finland will propose a ban on Brazilian beef imports to protest over Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro's response to massive Amazon fires, the country's finance minister said on Friday.

French President Emmanuel Macron is leading international pressure on Bolsonaro over the Amazon rainforest fires, threatening to block a major trade deal with the EU.

Finland's Finance Minister Mika Lintila condemned the destruction of rainforests and proposed "the EU and Finland urgently look into the option of banning the import of Brazilian beef".

Finland currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Council.

"Now we need effective action from the EU... I am ready to raise the issue with my EU Finance Minister colleagues who will be coming to Helsinki in September, if there is no progress before then," Lintila said.

The fires in the world's largest rainforest have sparked protests around the planet and ignited a war of words between Bolsonaro and Macron, who has described the wildfires as an "international crisis". </s> FILE PHOTO: Employees work at the assembly line of jerked beef at a plant of JBS S.A, the world's largest beef producer, in Santana de Parnaiba, Brazil December 19, 2017. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland, which holds the European Union’s rotating chairmanship, called on Friday for the EU to look into the possibility of banning Brazilian beef from its markets due to devastation caused by fires in the Amazon rainforest.

“Finance Minister Mika Lintila condemns the destruction of Amazon rainforests and suggests that the EU and Finland should urgently review the possibility of banning Brazilian beef imports,” Finland’s finance ministry said in a statement. </s> Mikko Kärnä (Centre), a second-term Member of the Finnish Parliament from Lapland, on Friday demanded that the European Union ban the imports of soy and meat from Brazil. The ban, he said, is warranted because the slash-and-burn agriculture practised in the country’s rainforests is posing a threat to the future of the entire mankind.

“While the European Union and other countries are combating climate change, rainforests are being ruthlessly burned to make way for soy farming and livestock rearing in Brazil,” he said.

“Everyone who uses products directly or indirectly reliant on Brazilian soy is destroying the climate. We must have the courage to impose a boycott on all Brazilian meats and soy products until this reckless behaviour in the rainforests has come to an end. In Finland, [Kesko] S Group and Lidl should remove all such products from their shelves immediately.”

The UN, he added, should discuss the situation and agree on sanctions to compel Brazil to comply with the Paris Agreement.

“Brazilian President Jari [sic] Bolsanaro’s [sic] statements surrounding the catastrophe are inexplicable and the man seems to be so crooked that he has to screw a knit cap on his head. We’re not dealing with ‘an environmental psychosis’ but with an emergency affecting the entire humanity,” underlined Kärnä. </s> The European Union piled pressure on Friday on Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro over fires raging in the Amazon basin, with Ireland and France saying they could block a trade deal and Finland urging a ban on Brazilian beef imports.

Bolsonaro has rejected what he calls foreign interference in domestic affairs in Brazil, where vast tracts of the Amazon rainforest are ablaze in what is known as the burning season.

Environmentalists have blamed deforestation for an increase in fires and accuse the right-wing president of relaxing protection of a vast carbon trap and climate driver that is crucial to combating global climate change.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Bolsonaro had been lying when he played down concerns about climate change at the G20 summit in Japan in June and that, in this light, France would oppose the farming deal struck between the EU and the Mercosur countries: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Dublin would vote against the free trade deal unless Brazil acted to protect the rainforest.

Varadkar said he was very concerned at the record levels of rainforest destruction, and that the Irish government would closely monitor Brazil’s environmental actions in the two years until the Mercosur deal was ratified.

“There is no way that Ireland will vote for the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement if Brazil does not honour its environmental commitments,” he said in a statement.

Ireland would need other EU states to help form a blocking minority if it wants to kill the deal, reached in June after 20 years of negotiations.

But the Irish government is under pressure to defend its beef farmers, already suffering from Britain’s looming EU exit and low prices, by seeking to ensure Mercosur countries do not flood the market with cheaper beef.

Finland, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, suggested a ban on Brazilian beef imports.

Prime Minister Antti Rinne said the fires were “a threat to our whole planet, not just to Brazil or South America”.

“We must find out whether the Europeans have something to offer Brazil to help prevent this kind of fires in the future,” he added.

Leaders of the world’s most advanced economies are also expected to discuss the matter when they meet for the G7 summit in France this weekend.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said he would use the gathering to call for international action to protect the world’s rainforests. </s> DUBLIN/BRUSSELS, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The European Union piled pressure on Friday on Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro over fires raging in the Amazon basin, with Ireland and France saying they could block a trade deal with South America.

Bolsonaro has rejected what he calls foreign interference in domestic affairs in Brazil, where vast tracts of the Amazon rainforest are ablaze in what is known as the burning season. He said the army could be sent to help fight the fires.

French President Emmanuel Macron's office said Bolsonaro had lied in playing down concerns about climate change at the G20 summit in Japan in June and that, in this light, France would oppose the deal struck between the EU and the Mercosur countries: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Dublin would vote against the deal unless Brazil acted to protect the rainforest.

Varadkar said he was very concerned at the record levels of rainforest destruction, and that the Irish government would closely monitor Brazil's environmental actions in the two years until the Mercosur deal was ratified.

"There is no way that Ireland will vote for the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement if Brazil does not honour its environmental commitments," he said in a statement.

Ireland and France would need other EU states to help form a blocking minority if they want to kill the deal, reached in June after 20 years of negotiations.

The Irish government is under pressure to defend its beef farmers, already suffering from Britain's looming EU exit and low prices, by seeking to ensure Mercosur countries do not flood the market with cheaper beef.

But the EU executive, the European Commission, warned against burying the deal, saying it could help to put pressure on Brazil.

"This is the best way to create legally binding commitments with countries that we want to respect our environmental standards," said Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva. "The best tool that we have is the EU-Mercosur agreement."

She noted that the text included punitive mechanisms to be used if certain climate-related conditions were not met.

Finland, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, suggested a ban on Brazilian beef imports. Prime Minister Antti Rinne said the fires were "a threat to our whole planet, not just to Brazil or South America".

"We must find out whether the Europeans have something to offer Brazil to help prevent this kind of fires in the future," he added.

Finland's finance minister said he would raise the issue with his EU peers at a meeting in Helsinki on Sept. 13-14.

Leaders of the world's most advanced economies are also expected to discuss the matter when they meet for the G7 summit in France this weekend. </s> While the wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest may constitute an “international crisis,” they are hardly an accident.

The vast majority of the fires have been set by loggers and ranchers to clear land for cattle. The practice is on the rise, encouraged by Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s populist pro-business president, who is backed by the country’s so-called “beef caucus.”

While this may be business as usual for Brazil’s beef farmers, the rest of the world is looking on in horror.

The rainforest, known as “the planet’s lungs,” produces about 20% of the world’s oxygen.

On Friday, Finland’s finance minister called for the European Union to “urgently review the possibility of banning Brazilian beef imports” over the Amazon fires.

Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of beef, providing close to 20% of the total global exports, according the United States Department of Agriculture a figure that could rise in the coming years.

Last year the country shipped 1.64 million tonnes of beef — the highest volume in history — generating $6.57 billion in revenue, according to the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (Abiec), an association of more than 30 Brazilian meat-packing companies.

The growth of Brazil’s beef industry has been driven in part by strong demand from Asia — mostly China and Hong Kong. These two markets alone accounted for nearly 44% of all beef exports from Brazil in 2018, according to the USDA.

And a trade deal struck in June between South America’s Mercosur bloc of countries and the European Union could open up even more markets for Brazil’s beef-packing industry.

Speaking after the agreement as announced, the head of Abiec, Antônio Camardelli, said the pact could help Brazil gain access to prospective new markets, like Indonesia and Thailand, while boosting sales with existing partners, like the EU. “A deal of this magnitude is like an invitation card for speaking with other countries and trade blocs,” Camardelli told Reuters in July.

Once implemented, the deal will lift a 20% levy on beef imports into the EU.

But, on Friday, Ireland said it was ready to block the deal unless Brazil took action on the Amazon.

In a statement Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar described as “Orewellian” Bolsonaro’s attempt to blame the fires on environmental groups. Varadkar said that Ireland will monitor Brazil’s environmental actions to determine whether to block the Mercosur deal, which is two years away.

He added Irish and European farmers could not be told to use fewer pesticides and respect biodiversity when trade deals were being made with countries not subjected to “decent environmental, labor and product standards.”

In June, before the furor over the rainforest began, the Irish Farmers Association called on Ireland not to ratify the deal, arguing its terms would disadvantage European beef farmers.

Deal or no deal, Brazil’s beef industry is projected to continue expanding, buoyed by natural resources, grassland availability and global demand, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

And, with that growth, comes steep environmental costs.

Brazil’s space research center (INPE) said this week that the number of fires in Brazil is 80% higher than last year. More than half are in the Amazon region, spelling disaster for the local environment and ecology.

Alberto Setzer, a senior scientist at INPE, told CNN that the burning can range from a small-scale agricultural practice, to new deforestation for mechanized and modern agribusiness projects.

Farmers wait until the dry season to start burning and clearing areas so their cattle can graze, but this year’s destruction has been described as unprecedented. Environmental campaigners blame this uptick on Bolsonaro, who they say has encouraged ranchers, farmers, and loggers to exploit and burn the rainforest like never before with a sense of impunity.

Bolsonaro has dismissed accusations of responsibility for the fires, but a clear shift seems to be underway.

And if saving the rainforest isn’t enough to convince carnivores to stop eating Brazilian beef — the greenhouse gas emissions the cattle create may be.

Beef is responsible for 41% of livestock greenhouse gas emissions, and that livestock accounts for 14.5% of total global emissions. And methane — the greenhouse gas cattle produce from both ends — is 25 times more potent that carbon dioxide.

An alarming report released last year by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, said changing our diets could contribute 20% of the effort needed to keep global temperatures from rising 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Namely, eating less meat.

Still, global consumption of beef and veal is set to rise in the next decade according to projections from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

A joint report predicted global production would increase 16% between 2017 and 2027 to meet demand.

The majority of that expansion will be in developing countries, like Brazil. </s> While the wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest may constitute an "international crisis," they are hardly an accident.

The vast majority of the fires have been set by loggers and ranchers to clear land for cattle. The practice is on the rise, encouraged by Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's populist pro-business president, who is backed by the country's so-called "beef caucus."

While this may be business as usual for Brazil's beef farmers, the rest of the world is looking on in horror.

So, for those wondering how they could help save the rainforest, known as "the planet's lungs" for producing about 20% of the world's oxygen, the answer may be simple. Eat less meat.

It's an idea that Finland has already floated. On Friday, the Nordic country's finance minister called for the European Union to "urgently review the possibility of banning Brazilian beef imports" over the Amazon fires.

How much meat Brazil exports: Brazil is the world's largest exporter of beef, providing close to 20% of the total global exports, according the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) — a figure that could rise in the coming years.

Last year the country shipped 1.64 million tonnes of beef — the highest volume in history — generating $6.57 billion in revenue, according to the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (Abiec), an association of more than 30 Brazilian meat-packing companies.
Finland, current chair of the European Union, asks the bloc to contemplate a ban on beef from Brazil in response to the ongoing disaster.