The European Union currently imports a total of 65,000t of Brazilian beef, the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture has heard.

This week, at a revealing discussion on Brazilian food safety systems, independent MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan asked a commission official: ‘How much Brazilian beef is the EU already importing?’.

He asked the question after colourfully illustrating his staunch opposition to the sale of South American beef on EU supermarket shelves by drawing comparisons to drinking water from a “dirty puddle“.

Meanwhile, he also demonstrated his resistance to the looming EU/Mercosur trade deal – which could potentially mean access for another 70,000t to 99,000t of Latin-American meat to the EU – with an analogy on ice-skating.

In an attempt to highlight the food safety and tracability differences between farmers on both continents; ‘Ming’ says it’s like asking a figure skater to race a speed skater – while completing tricky loops, axels and flips at the same time.

In response to the question, the EU official stated: “Relating to the specific question on the imports, and specifically on the beef, if I look to the meat of bovine animals then we have 65,000t.”

Watch this video to see first hand how it all unfolded at the corridors of power this week.