Pressure is mounting on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, to “oppose any ratification” of the controversial EU-Mercosur deal as an “exceptionally volatile period” for Irish farming looms large.
Following last night’s announcement from Brussels that the EU is willing to increase its beef import quota from the Mercosur bloc by 99,000t, Fianna Fáil’s agricultural spokesperson Charlie McConalogue has sent a stern warning to Minister Creed.
“This deal has taken almost 20 years to negotiate and Irish farmers have opposed the proposals in it every step of the way.
The deal has always had the potential to damage Irish farming; but combined with the possible loss of trade in the British market as a result of Brexit, Mercosur could prove catastrophic.
“This deal will see 99,000t of South American beef allowed into the European market every year. This will have a huge impact on prices, at a time when beef farmers here are already to the pin of their collars,” the deputy said.
Also Read: Commissioner announces beef import quota under Mercosur dealIn line with responses of the country’s farming organisations, McConalogue highlighted that this deal will also have a detrimental impact on the environment.
“It seems ironic that on the one hand the Government and the EU talks about reducing our carbon footprint to mitigate climate change, while on the other they have no issue with flying South American beef thousands of kilometres into Europe.
“Minister Creed knows that this is a bad deal for Ireland. He must engage with his European counterparts to ensure that there is no decision to ratify this deal – given that we do not know what the full impact of Brexit will be.
We export around 270,000t of beef to the UK every year, will our farmers now have to compete with cheap South American imports in a post-Brexit scenario?
“This is an exceptionally volatile period and I believe the EU should not take any decisions on this deal until the full post-Brexit scenario is known”, he concluded.
Following the announcement last night, Friday, June 25, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan, outlined that the commission “stands ready” to assist farmers in the event of any “major disturbance to the market place”.
As such, a support package ready of up to €1 billion has been established..