The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) has strong criticised the outcome of a briefing to Irish farmers by the European Commission, held in Dublin, on the Mercosur trade deal describing it as "worse than useless”.

The president of ICMSA, Denis Drennan, said that "whether deliberately or inadvertently" commission officials had not allowed adequate time to deal with the questions posed by ICMSA and others.

He said farmer representatives had travelled to Dublin "without the opportunity to even ask the vital questions- much less receive a detailed answer". 

Drennan said: “Farmers are the most sector within the EU that will be most impacted by Mercosur and because farming and agri generally play such a disproportionate role in Irish life there’s a good argument for saying that Irish farmers would be the single most affected sector in the EU by the disaster that will be Mercosur.

European Commission representatives have not commented on the ICMSA's criticism.

According to the ICMSA president farmers received an "unsatisfactory presentation that was over with without any opportunity to ask even the most basic questions that Irish farmers demand are answered" in relation to the briefing from European Commission representatives.

The ICMSA has compiled a list of questions which it believes remained to be answered in relation to the Mercosur deal. Drennan said these include:

How can the EU Commission guarantee that an animal did not get growth promoters?

What are the sanctions for a country if growth promoters found?

Does the EU Commission accept that the "cattle traceability system in Mercosur countries is inferior" and how will it ensure that beef from only approved cattle will enter the EU food chain?

How many staff will the EU Commission have at meat plants/on the ground to ensure the agreement is implemented correctly?

In the EUDR, the EU Commission have implemented a complex system for EU farmers to comply with, will the same rules apply to Mercusor farmers and how will the EU Commission verify their data?

If a steak arrives in the EU, how will the EU Commission know that it did not come from deforested areas?

What are the labelling requirements for Mercosur beef and how will a consumer know if they are consuming it?

The proposed €1 billion compensation fund - what is the funding source, is it from CAP or is it additional funding and how will it be triggered and how will the funding be distributed?

The ICMSA president also said that European Commission officials should be in a position to answer questions on these issues and said that it believes the outcome of the Dublin briefing "only serve to compound and increase farmer anxieties".