The European Commission is “ignoring the devastating impact of agricultural production in Brazil” by pushing through the EU-Mercosur deal, according to the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).

This is the message from IFA president Francie Gorman ahead of a series of high-level discussions he will be involved with in Brussels on Thursday about the Mercosur trade deal.

Gorman will meet with the incoming European Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen as part of the Copa meeting, as well as officials from DG Trade.

He said he will express the concerns of Irish farmers around the impact of the deal for the Irish beef and poultry sectors if passed.

Gorman said the impact of a negative trade deal would be felt “beyond the farmgate”, with processing and upstream value hit by any decision to allow more imports.

“The Commission’s plans appear to be to ignore the devastating impact of agricultural production in Brazil, while at the same time imposing greater regulations on farmers here,” he said.

“The next government cannot allow this to happen. They must stand up for Irish farmers. Committing to support the beef sector as part of our general election would be meaningless if this deal is allowed to go through.”

Other discussions

The IFA will also hold a bilateral meeting with its French counterparts FNSEA to maintain the strong alliance in opposition to the deal.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, IFA livestock chair Declan Hanrahan and COPA beef working vice-chair Brendan Golden met beef farmers from across Europe in Brussels at the Copa Cogeca beef working group.

At this meeting, the unified opposition to this deal was further highlighted and options discussed to intensify the campaign by EU farmers to have the deal rejected.

“With 100,000 beef farmers, it is the largest farming sector in the country and has an economic impact in every parish in rural Ireland,” added Gorman.

With the Irish beef sector estimated to be worth €2.7bn for food exports last year, he said it is crucial the next government is firmly against the current deal.

“Allowing Mercosur to pass would have serious consequences for this sector and for the poultry sector, as it would totally undermine our Bord Bia Quality Assured produce.

“We secured commitments from the three main party leaders at the recent meeting of our national council. Farmers need the three main leaders to be united on this. We need a steadfast and unified opposition to Mercosur.

“Whoever is Taoiseach and leader of the next government must act quickly and say no to Mercosur.”