DEAR SIR:

The CETA free trade deal between the EU and Canada that was recently passed by the European Parliament by 408 votes to 254 has the potential to pose a serious threat to the agricultural industry here in Ireland. Our four Fine Gael MEPs voted for this deal, with all our other MEPs voting against. There is a real fear that this deal could be a very bad one for Irish agriculture with the prospect of 50,000t of Canadian beef imports coming into Ireland alone, along with fears that the deal will have an adverse effect on the pigmeat, poultry and other sectors.

In the area of jobs, the employment committee in the EU has calculated that there could be up to 200,000 net job losses throughout Europe as a result of this deal, an incredible figure. This is a figure produced by the EU employment committee itself. That alone calls this deal into serious question.

With this deal, the Irish market could be flooded with cheaper, poor-quality meat and food products which could put pressure on our food standards and negatively hit Irish farmers.

Irish and EU farmers and producers may be disadvantaged by the extra costs involved in complying with EU regulations and standards, while their Canadian counterparts don’t face such restrictions. This deal is effectively a race to the bottom.

In relation to that, it is rather ironic that our European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan recently warned the United Kingdom that it may have to sacrifice its food standards to get their prospective trade deal with the US when Brexit kicks in.

Our farmers and food producers are being compromised in the same way with the CETA deal as that which Commissioner Phil Hogan is warning the UK about in its possible deal with the US. His position is in total contrast to his and the EU position on CETA. That alone ought to pose questions regarding this deal that has been largely agreed on behind closed doors by our politicians without proper consultation.

It is interesting to note that already our MEP, Mairead McGuinness, is talking about the need to put safeguards in place to protect the Irish beef industry prior to the deal coming into operation.

If she feels that there is a need for such safeguards to be put in place, why did she vote for the deal in the first place? In reality, it is rather late to be seeking such safeguards to be put in place at this stage. It is disappointing that some of our MEPs voted for this deal which is not in the interests of Irish agriculture and the country in general.