Reports were circulating in Brussels on Friday night suggesting that the EU Commission has circulated members with proposals to grant Mercosur countries access to EU markets for 78,000t of beef.

This follows on from a meeting earlier in the day between EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and current Mercosur president, Uruguay’s Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa who was in Brussels for meeting to advance the Mercosur –EU discussions. They have agreed to exchange offers by the second week of May with discussions pencilled in for September.

While up to 12 countries have noted concerns it is really only Ireland and France that are fighting the corner of farmers. Farm lobby groups are outraged.

The IFA had already written to the Taoiseach earlier this week and the EU umbrella farming representative body COPA-COGECA has expressed outrage at the idea of giving Mercosur countries access to already depressed EU markets at this time.

Depressed market

The size of the quota at 78,000t is huge in a depressed market. To put it in context, France is Ireland’s next largest export market after Britain and it takes around 60,000t of beef annually. In the context of access to the US, Ireland uses a 64,000 tonne quota that is made available to countries that they do not have specific trade deals with including Brazil, one of the world’s top three beef exporters. In a record year of US beef imports in 2015, this 64,000t quota was not fully used.