ICMSA joins EMB at Brussels protest against Mercosur deal
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) has joined colleagues from the European Milk Board (EMB) for a protest in Brussels against the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (EMPA).
The demonstration, which took place yesterday (Thursday, September 4), was organised by farm organisations, trade unions, civil society groups and environmental activists opposed to the trade deal.
On Wednesday, the European Commission put forward its proposal to ratify the EMPA. The deal will need to secure approval from the EU Council and European Parliament.
If ratified, the deal will create the world's biggest free trade zone, covering a market of over 700 million consumers.
However, European farm organisations have voiced major objections to 99,000t of Mercosur beef being allowed to enter the EU market with a 7.5% duty under the deal.
ICMSA president, Denis Drennan described the push to ratify the deal as a "calculated betrayal" of the EU’s policy of sustainability and low-environmental impact.
He was part of the EMB contingent that was headed by the president of the specialist dairy farmer umbrella group, Kjartan Poulsen from Denmark.
The ICMSA president said that it was "simply impossible for the Irish government to pretend that this could be yet another situation where Ireland was expected to take one for the team".
“It’s already obvious what’s going on here; Germany wants to sell cars to the South American market and Spain wants radically increase trade with the South American countries with whom it has strong linguistic, historical, and commercial links.
"But the only thing that Mercosur can export to us is beef and other foodstuffs and the beef, specifically, will be in direct competition with us for markets we’ve spent decades opening.
"The competition isn’t the problem; our beef is better and - on any level playing field - there wouldn’t be any problem. The problem arises because there isn’t any pretence of a ’level playing field’.
"The South American beef is produced practically without regulation or even a semblance of sustainability and that means that it will be arriving cheaper and undercutting our beef that’s produced to the standards that the EU itself has insisted upon," Drennan claimed.
The ICMSA president said France is currently assembling a blocking vote.
“Ireland’s national interest lies in a categoric rejection of a Mercosur agreement, something that has been recognised by successive Irish governments for 20-odd years," Drennan said.
