The IFA has organised a protest outside the EU Commission office in Dublin on Monday over their “reckless pursuit of a ‘sell out’ trade deal with the South American group of Mercosur countries.”

IFA president Joe Healy said that the EU Commission plans to sell out Irish farming in a “deal with the devil” that is Brazil and its new president Bolsonaro.

“It is totally unacceptable that the Commission is prepared to sacrifice Irish and European farmers, but they are also giving the green light to the further destruction of rainforests. Farmers are sick of the double speak from the EU Commission which lectures us on climate change, but is prepared do a deal with a country with a climate destruction agenda,” Healy said.

“The Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office has volumes of reports which expose in stark terms the failure of the Brazilian authorities, in particular, to meet EU standards on animal welfare, traceability, food safety and the environment.”

Brazil have 230 million cattle, with a further 53 million in Argentina. The IFA said it is reckless of the Commission to agree to a deal which would see tens of thousands of tons of substandard beef from Brazil and other South American countries come onto the European market.

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