'Taste our milk before you leave the country' TD urges Commissioner Sefcovic
The European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Maros Sefcovic, has been urged by a TD, who is also a farmer, to "taste our milk before you leave the country".
Commissioner Sefcovic was meeting with members of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food today (Thursday, October 2) when the proposal was put to him by the Fine Gael TD, William Aird.
The Laois TD welcomed the commissioner to Leinster House telling him that "with my other hat I milk cows for a living so I produce milk".
The TD told the commissioner, who has said that the EU-Mercosur Agreement will "create the world's largest free trade area" that he would "love" if before he left Ireland that he would taste Irish milk.
"We have the best milk in the European Union, there is no question on that," Deputy Aird said.
Commissioner Sefcovic faced a series of tough questions from TDs and senators from both committees during a largely genial meeting at Leinster House today.
The concerns of farmers about the Mercosur deal and the impact that it could have on Irish agriculture were high on the agenda.
The Sinn Féin spokesperson on Agriculture, Martin Kenny, set the tone for the meeting with the first question on how the European Union intends to ensure that products from Mercosur countries will meet the "high standards" set by the European Union.
Commissioner Sefcovic repeatedly stressed during the meeting that safeguards are in place in relation to the deal - from the quotas to the "standards" that will be imposed on Mercosur imports into Europe.
He was also keen to highligh why he believes that Ireland is in a strong position regardless of the Mercosur deal describing Irish agri-food production systems as one of the strongest "in the planet".
"Your quality is uncontested.
"I really don't think you should worry about any kind of competition - your meat, your poultry, your agri-food products - your milk - are so established in the European and global market. When I am travelling around the world I go to the supermarket and I see it everywhere," the commissioner told TDs and senators.
