Mercosur deal will be ‘disastrous’

A “quick and dirty” EU trade deal with the South American Mercosur trading block – which would see large quantities of beef imported into Europe – could have disastrous consequences for Scottish beef producers, it has been claimed.

Despite Brexit currently hogging the headlines, the threat posed by a deal which would open Europe’s doors to between 70 and 90,000 tonnes of beef from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay would threaten Scotland’s iconic beef industry, accordingtonfuscotland. The union’s livestock committee chairman, Charlie Adam, a beef farmer from Aberdeenshire, said that the country’s beef industry was concerned that South American beef, which he said was produced to lower standards, would damage the market currently available to Scottish producers:

“The idea that the European Commission would consider allowing greater access to South American beef following the ‘rotten meat’ scandal that rocked Brazil earlier this year is absurd,” said Adam, “particularly after the recent EU food safety audit found that Brazilian authorities could not guarantee export requirements.” He said that beef farmers in Scotland and across the continent were currently facing great uncertainty over the impact that Brexit could have on the market:

“The European Commission must not treat our excellent food safety and high-quality standards as a bargaining chip simply to rush through a damaging trade deal so they can tick it off the ‘to do’ list’,” said Adam.

The move follows on from a long-standing lobbying effort from Irish farmers who have also predicted disastrous consequences from such any ill-thought out trade deal.