Beef back on Mercosur menu

Hopes that beef would be taken off the table in the talks between the EU and the South American group of nations known as Mercosur have been quashed this week.

Responding to Irish MEP Marian Harkin this week, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström said: “It is unrealistic to expect Mercosur to conclude negotiations with the EU without obtaining any improvement in their access to the EU market for beef.”

The answer given by Commissioner Malmström to Harkin is essentially a restatement of the position outlined in the Irish Farmers Journal in May this year.

Back then there was a situation in which European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan said during a visit to Northern Ireland that the 78,000t of beef that had been floated internally to EU member states would not be in the initial EU offer to Mercosur.

Hogan said beef had been taken off the Mercosur menu.

At the same time, Rodolfo Nin Novoa, the current Mercosur president, said all agriculture products are included in negotiations, but that volumes and time frames weren’t included at present, while Commissioner Malmström refused to confirm to MEPs that beef wouldn’t be included.

What subsequently emerged was that the 78,000t, as originally floated by the Commission to EU member states, wasn’t included in the original offers, which were exchanged by the EU and Mercosur back in May.

Mercosur then stated that the 78,000t was not sufficient and the trading bloc would require access into Europe for 150,000t of beef. This outlined the group’s strong stance on wanting access to the lucrative European market.

Farm organisations in Ireland and Europe have expressed grave concerns over the possibility of cheap South American beef flooding the European market and displacing beef produced in Europe.