Grain imports, Mercosur and the CBAM tariff were all points that tillage farmers brought up on Friday night that were clearly frustrating them and as they see these things are unlevelling the playing field.

Farmers quite rightly noted that they will now have to pay the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) tax on fertiliser imported into Ireland from outside of the EU. However, they were clearly annoyed that grain being imported from outside of the EU will not be subject to the same tax, meanwhile research is now proving emissions from producing Ireland’s grain are among the lowest in the World.

Mercosur came up and the fact that grain comes from these countries to feed Irish animals using plant protection products which are banned here and genetically modified grain which are not allowed here.

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However, the Minister was having none of it. He said that “all GMO feed is labelled. There’s no requirement to label meat or dairy as GMO because they’re not GMO. They’re not produced from GMO animals.”

On Mercosur he seemed to comment that the grain coming in is of a high standard, but the beef was not.

He said: “There’s a very clear difference between SPS standards and environmental standards. SPS standards are non-negotiable.

“SPS [sanitary and phytosanitary], food safety is non-negotiable from a European perspective. In relation to Mercosur there are extra commitments being given in terms of observing the food safety standards and the SPS. The problem is the environmental standards on the Mercosur that I have the huge issue with because they’re not of the same standard. Our farmers are producing the beef here at a much higher environmental standard.”

He continued on to say: “On the point around the environmental standards on the tillage side that’s our advantage and we have to use that advantage better than it has been used to date.”