The EU is working on drawing up a legal instrument to accompany the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement in order to address issues in the deal – including food production linked to deforestation.
The deal has been criticised by politicians and farm organisations in Ireland and across the EU, due to the increase in the tariff-rate quota for beef imports from the South American bloc to 99,000t.
At the same time, stakeholders in Ireland and the EU have expressed anger that food producers in the Mercosur countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – would not be held to the same environmental standards that farmers this side of the Atlantic contend with.
This issue is particularly associated with deforestation in Brazil which, opponents of the agreement argue, is pursued in order to create more space for beef production.
However, the EU appears to be taking steps to address this.
A spokesperson for the European Commission told Agriland: “The EU has been working on an additional instrument to accompany the agreement, aimed at addressing sustainability aspects, including in the area of deforestation.”
However, the spokesperson added that this is a “work in progress”, and that no meeting has taken place yet between EU and Mercosur representatives on such an instrument.
The commission spokesperson also said: “The EU values its relationship with Mercosur countries and is regularly in touch with them, including on the finalisation of the Mercosur agreement.”
The spokesperson explained that the deal is currently undergoing legal revision.
Despite the deal uniting agricultural and environmental stakeholders in opposition to it, it remains on the table.
Senior government figures here – including Tánaiste Leo Varadkar – have said that Ireland will veto the deal in its current format.
It remains to be seen if this new instrument the commission is working on will make the deal more palatable to some of its current detractors.
Just last week, the Irish government was called on to inform the EU that it intends to veto the agreement.
Cavan–Monaghan Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy said that it is “unacceptable” that the deal between the EU and Mercosur remains an open prospect.
Deputy Carthy claimed that if the Irish government fails to immediately end further progress of the deal, the coalition parties will “lose all creditability on their climate rhetoric”.