The seven European prime ministers that signed a letter backing a Mercosur trade deal are making a mockery of European farming standards, IFA president Joe Healy has said.

“It is astounding to see leaders such as Germany’s Angela Merkel and the Netherlands' Mark Rutte referring to health, environmental and labour standards, while at the same time calling on the EU to do a deal that would result in more substandard beef coming from Brazil at the expense of that country’s rain forests,” he said. “This is breathktaking hypocrisy from the seven signatories who want a deal with President Bolsonaro from Brazil and other South American countries to suit their own economies, while conveniently ignoring the truth about Brazil.”

He added that the prime ministers should be “ashamed of their sell-out of EU values” and that a deal would throw “an entire sector under the bus.”

Joe Healy and the Livestock Chairman Angus Woods met the head of Cabinet DG Trade in Brussels on Friday. The IFA is calling on An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to build opposition to Mercosur at EU council level.

Negotiations

Meanwhile, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed was in Rome on Saturday to meet his French counterpart Didier Guillame and EU Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan to discuss EU-Mercosur trade negotiations. The French and Irish have shared concerns on the current stage of negotiations, Minister Creed said.

“We agreed that there are strong reasons for concern about the possible conclusion of such a deal in the short-term, with specialist beef farmers in both Ireland and France being particularly exposed to negative impacts. We will remain in close contact on this issue over the coming period,” Creed said after the meeting.

Heads of State and Government from Ireland, France, Poland and Belgium have written to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker urging no further agriculture concessions.

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