IFA national livestock chair Angus Woods has acknowledged the comments by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that Ireland will block a Mercosur deal because of the burning of the Amazon rainforests. However, he criticised the silence of the European Commission.

The IFA livestock committee leader said it is time the European Commission stood up to Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and told him that Europe will not tolerate the burning of the rainforests to clear land for more beef exports as part of the Mercosur deal.

Woods said there is widespread destruction of the rainforests. An area the size of a football pitch is burned down every minute to clear the ground for grazing and cattle ranching.

Since January of this year, Brazil has had more than 74,000 fires in the Amazon rainforests, an 83% increase on 2018, according to the INPE, the institute for space research in Brazil.

Woods said that when the EU-Mercosur trade deal was done in June, the IFA highlighted the failure of Brazil and others to meet EU standards and the environmental damage to the rainforests.

This was strongly rejected by European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan who said “no beef will be allowed enter the EU market unless it complies 100% with EU standards” and “the agreement includes a binding commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement”.

Woods said it is clear that the Brazilians have told the EU to get lost on the environment with Brazilian president Bolsonaro saying he “encourages farmers to clear the land” and he has accused environmental groups of “setting fire to the forests”.