Independent Ireland has been called on to ramp up its campaign against the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement, in light of the impending ban on beef and poultry products from Brazil.

From this Thursday (September 3), beef and poultry products (and some other agri-food products) will no longer be exported from Brazil to the EU.

This follows a vote earlier in the year among EU member states to exclude Brazil from a list of countries authorised to export food-producing animals and animal products to the bloc, due to concerns over a lack of antimicrobial use tracking.

This development occurred mere months after the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement provisionally entered into force.

The trade agreement allows the Mercosur trading bloc - Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay - to export an additional 99,000t of beef at a much reduced tariff; however, from September 3, none of the beef entering the EU from Mercosur will be sourced from Brazil.

Independent Ireland was one of the main political voices in Ireland against the deal, with its MEP Ciaran Mullooly being one of loudest opponents of the trade agreement in the European Parliament.

Both Independent Ireland, and Mullooly himself, have been urged to redouble their efforts to have the whole EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement stopped, in light of the ban on Brazilian product.

The Irish Livestock Exporters Association (ILEA), which represents a number of businesses exporting live animals from Ireland, described the ban as "significant victory" for European food safety, consumers and farmers.

Lorcan O’Dochartaigh, the ILEA's trade representative, wrote to Mullooly on the issue, telling the MEP: "Brazil alone is not Mercosur."

In a letter to Mullooly, O’Dochartaigh claimed that the same production practises that have drawn scrutiny in Brazil can also be found in other Mercosur member states.

He said that the trade agreement legitimises imports "produced under regulatory regimes that do not mirror EU standards".

According to O’Dochartaigh, "now is the opportune moment to intensify pressure" on the EU institutions to halt the trade agreement permanently.

He added that the ban on Brazilian product, coming into effect on Thursday, "provide a compelling basis for arguing that the agreement, in its current form, is incompatible with the EU's own regulatory principles".

The ILEA has called on Independent Ireland to publicly reiterate that the ban on Brazilian product "must not be treated as an isolated measure".

O’Dochartaigh's letter said: "The Irish meat and livestock trade is a cornerstone of our rural economy and a vital component of national export earnings.

"Any erosion of market confidence, whether through perceived regulatory arbitrage or actual displacement of EU-produced beef, would have serious and lasting detrimental effects on Irish farmers, processors and exporters," it added.