Farmers gathered outside the EU Commission on Mount Street in Dublin to express their anger over a proposed trade deal with the South American Mercosur trading block. The proposed deal would see an additional 70,000t of beef and 78,000t of poultry per year enter the EU subject to Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ).

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The protest was organised by the IFA, with their president Joe Healy addressing the crowd. Healy accused EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström of driving a deal that would be detrimental to farmers. He said that “it was not acceptable that she wants to sell out Irish and European farmers at any cost.”

Farmers are concerned that tariff-free beef and poultry imports could saturate the market and upset the slim margins farmers receive for their produce.

Government response

Speaking in the Dáil this Wednesday, An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he met European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker directly on the issue at an EU summit last week.

"I left President Juncker in no doubt of Ireland's position with regard to our beef sector," Taoiseach Varadkar said. He added that he expected "our standards of animal welfare, of animal health and of food safety would be reflected and written into any trade deal."

Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed told the Irish Farmers Journal that although the deal hadn’t been decided yet, he was disappointed with the direction the deal was heading in. “On the basis of what we have seen only recently there are serious concerns about the quality of beef coming in, particularly from Brazil.”’

Farmers from across the country attended the protest, with almost all counties represented.

European commission

In response to a request from the Irish Farmers Journal, Gerry Kiely the head of the European Commission in Ireland said that they were aware of the sensitivity of some agriculture sectors in the EU to the proposed deal. However, he also expressed that a future trade deal would take this into account and stated that a trade deal could be beneficial for farmers in the EU.

“Sixty per cent of EU’s agriculture imports from Mercosur are soya and feedstock for our own cows and pigs, and a free trade agreement would eliminate tariffs on these products, making it less expensive for farmers.”

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