All political parties have been called on to give a commitment ahead of the 2024 General Election that they would veto the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement if in government.
The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers’ Association (INHFA) has claimed that a deal on the final terms of the agreement could be reached by officials from the EU and the Mercosur bloc as early as this week, after EU and Mercosur representatives gathered at the G20 summit in Brazil, which is a member of the trading bloc.
John Joe Fitzgerald, the national vice-president of the INHFA, said that there is a “real prospect which is why we need immediate clarity from our politicians and commitment to veto any deal at EU level”.
The proposed deal would allow an additional 99,000t of beef enter the EU tariff-free from Mercosur.
Fitzgerald said that the deal will “impact heavily on Irish farmers, especially our suckler and beef sectors”.
“With Irish and European farmers delivering far higher standards in food safety, environmental protection and animal welfare standards than food coming from South America, this trade deal will lead to unfair competition,” he added.
That unfair competition will “ultimately lead to more farmers leaving the land”, the INHFA vice-president claimed.
“The impact of the proposed deal is also recognised by the European Commission, [which] is already talking about compensation, and in doing this is already conceding that this agreement will do irreversible damage to our beef industry.
“Clearly the European Commission and some EU countries are anxious to get a deal done. However, here in Ireland we must stand firm and not allow the interests of German car manufacturers or high-tech industries to undermine European agriculture and compromise food sovereignty,” he said.
Fitzgerald expressed concern that amid the “drama” of the general election, the deal could be passed without the proper analysis needed.
“This is why we are asking that all parties and independents commit now to vetoing any such deal,” he added.
The prospect of the deal being imminently finalised has raised fears among farmers not just in Ireland but also France, where, arguably, opposition to the trade agreement is strongest.
Farmers across France took to the streets this week to contest the Mercosur Agreement, with thousands of farmers gathered in force at approximately 80 protests held nationwide, which were organised by the two primary farming organisations in the country, FNSEA and Jeunes Agriculteurs (Young Farmers).
Protesters lit bonfires, covered road signs and spray painted roads with anti-Mercosur rhetoric, blocked roundabouts with tractors and congregated at regional government buildings bearing posters to demonstrate their anger at the proposed trade deal, which they consider a direct threat to their livelihoods.