Irish beef sector’s anger over planned Mercosur trade deal

Irish farmers have been making plain their strong opposition to any Eu/mercosur trade deal which would offer increased access for beef from the South American trading bloc, claiming that such a move would jeopardise the country’s €2.5 billion beef industry.

And their views were yesterday impressed on fellow countryman Phil Hogan – the EU farming commissioner – when he visited the country’s national ploughing championship.

The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) told Hogan that with the threat and uncertainty of Brexit on the sector’s lifeline exports to the UK, as well as the scandal in the Brazilian meat sector, now was not the time for the EU to make an offer which would give the bloc greater access to the EU beef market.

“The EU cannot make any new offer which will damage the EU beef sector by allowing the South Americans to cherry pick the high price EU steak market,” said IFA president Joe Healy.

He said the Mercosur countries already had “very favourable” access to the European market, accounting for up to 74 per cent of all EU beef imports – amounting to 246,000 tonne carcase weight equivalent every year.

Healy said the EU’S own impact assessment had shown that a Mercosur deal would damage the European beef sector:“it is essential that the quality beef suckler cow herd in Ireland, France and other EU countries must be protected and it is totally unacceptable that the EU Commission would make any offer that would undermine Europe’s production base.”

The umbrella group of farming unions, Copacogeca, reinforced the same message during a high-level meeting with the EU Commission yesterday.