The Irish farm organisation, Talamh Beo has condemned the recent signing of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement by EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
The European Union reached a political agreement with the four founding members of the Mercosur bloc of South American countries, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, last week.
The controversial trade agreement would allow an additional 99,000t of beef enter the EU with a 7.5% duty.
55% of the quota will consist of fresh or chilled meat and 45% of lower-value frozen meat.
Talamh Beo
Talamh Beo said that there is “widespread opposition” to the trade agreement among citizens in both EU and Mercosur countries.
“Trade agreements like Mercosur only exacerbate inequality, serve transnational capital over citizens, and push people apart,” it said.
Talamh Beo, along with the international farmers’ organisation La Via Campesina, have rejected the World Trade Organisation (WTO) framework for trade, “which only continues to damage our food and agricultural identities and economies”.
The organisation pointed to the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994 which it said “laid the foundations for the hollowing out of the American industrial base”.
“The fundamental principles of international trade need to be rebuilt on foundations of solidarity, compassion and social justice.
“Trade should care for our citizens and farms and not expose them to economic risk.
“There is no collective benefit to our society by extracting and exploiting another, and the same way we should reject dumping of goods such as beef in our markets, we should denounce the dumping of other goods (such as milk powder) in third countries,” Talamh Beo said.
The farm organisation called for a “move towards a people-centered trade policy based on food sovereignty”.
Talamh Beo said that this would ensure all citizens have access to the food, goods and services they need on a fair basis, without negatively impacting on one another.
“It is this model of people-centred growth which can also meet the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, as we decentralise production and consumption of food and reintegrate our production systems into balance with natural ecosystems,” it added.