IFA president Joe Healy has called on the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to stop a bad EU-Mercosur trade deal, which would do untold damage to our €3bn beef and livestock sector. “In view of the major Brexit implications overhanging the Irish and EU beef sector and the environmental degradation associated with Brazilian beef exports, it would be reckless to support a Mercosur deal.

“There is extreme concern in Brussels that European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström is pushing hard to finalise an EU-Mercosur deal later this month before the end of the current Commission mandate, exploiting the political vacuum following the EP elections and before the next Commission is appointed.” He said a no-deal Brexit would take the EU beef sector from 102% to 116% self-sufficiency, with disastrous consequences for beef prices and farm incomes. This would be compounded with any increase in imports from Mercosur. “How can the Commission ignore the fact that in Brexit the UK could impose tariffs as high as €850m per annum on Irish beef and possibly the closure of market access for over 290,000t of our beef exports?”

In terms of climate change, the IFA president pointed out that Irish beef production systems are four times more carbon-efficient than South America, where increased exports are driven on the back of deforestation of the Amazon rainforests.

European Commission reports prove that South American beef imports, especially imports from Brazil, fail to meet EU standards on traceability, food safety, animal health, environmental and labour law.