An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said there is no way Ireland will vote for the EU-Mercosur trade deal if Brazil does not honour its environmental commitments.

His warning comes as wildfires continue to burn across the Amazon rainforest.

In a statement, Varadkar said: “There is no way we can tell Irish and European farmers to use fewer pesticides, less fertiliser, embrace biodiversity and plant more of their land and expect them to do it, if we do not make trade deals contingent on decent environmental, labour and product standards.

Criticism

The Taoiseach said the deal was two years away from a vote on approval in Europe. In that time, the environmental actions of Brazil would be monitored closely.

The Taoiseach branded efforts by Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro to blame the fires on environmental NGOs as “Orwellian”.

He said Bolsonaro’s statement that Brazil will stay in the Paris Climate Accord "for now" will “raise antennas across Europe”.

The Mercosur trade deal has faced major criticism from farmers for the inclusion of a 100,000t quota for beef.

Farmer concerns

IFA livestock chair Angus Woods said the Taoiseach’s stance on Mercosur was the right call but he criticised the silence of the European Commission. Woods said president Bolsonaro and his Government had put a match to the Amazon rainforests and told the EU "to mind their own business".

Since January this year, Brazil has had more than 74,000 fires in the Amazon rainforest, an 83% increase on 2018, according to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research.

Woods said it was time the European Commission stood up to Bolsonaro and told him that Europe would not tolerate the burning of the rainforests to clear land for beef exports.

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