SWITZERLAND:The ban on Brazilian beef may have been greeted with delight by Irish farmers this week, but in Switzerland fears are growing that zealous EU health rules could spell the end for its national sausage.
The cervelat, a lightly-smoked sausage made of beef, bacon and pork rind that has become a Swiss institution, is desperately in need of a new skin casing because of an EU ban on the importation of intestines from Brazilian cattle.
Swiss butchers produce up to 170 million of the short golden-brown sausages every year and with the Euro 2008 football championships due to begin in June, demand is likely to be higher than ever.
But a decision by the EU to ban the importation of offal from Brazil in 2006 on health grounds is causing panic within the Swiss meat industry as stockpiles of the precious intestine of Brazilian Zebu cattle are now running low.
"Brazilian Zebu have smaller intestines, completely without fat enclosures, which fit to the needs of Swiss consumers," says Stephan Scheuner of the Swiss Meat Association.
"When we source intestines from other cows then the intestines are regularly larger or longer, have more fat and don't suit the sausages . . . Brazilian intestines are clearly better in terms of taste, peeling and size."
The European Commission banned the import of intestines from Brazil over fears that it could expose consumers to the risk of BSE infection.
This decision followed the advice of the World Organisation of Animal Health, which ruled in April 2006 that there was a "controlled risk of BSE" in Brazil. Switzerland, which is not an EU state, also imposed the import ban because it has aligned its own legislation with EU veterinary rules.
Swiss diplomats in Brussels say they can do nothing to get the ban lifted unless the World Organisation of Animal Health decides to change its risk status for Brazil.
In the meantime, the meat industry and the government have set up a "cervelat task force" to try to find an alternative skin casing for the sausage or get the ban lifted.
"You need a casing or you can't make a sausage. We've tried intestines from other animals and plastic casings, but none suit.
"Industry and consumers would like to keep the same casing because it offers the best quality and taste," says Ulrich Khim, a member of the task force and former member of the Swiss veterinary service.
Khim echoes complaints in the Swiss media that EU health rules are too stringent.
"To ban the import of the whole intestine is too harsh because the part we use for the sausage is not dangerous. This is another reason for people to attack the EU," he says.