The impact of the Mercosur trade deal once fully phased in will cost the Irish beef sector between €100m and €130m, Meat Industry Ireland (MII) maintains.

This equates to a loss of €75 to €95 per head on prime cattle and an annual loss of €1.3bn to EU beef market value, according to analysis carried out by MII.

The agreement, if ratified, would open access for a further 99,000 tonnes of high value steak cuts into the EU market.

The agreement will also lead to tariff reductions, in perpetuity, for the Mercosur beef exporters in the order of €400m per annum.

Speaking at Friday’s Bord Bia meat marketing seminar in Naas, Dale Crammond, director of MII said that the association's beef members remain extremely frustrated.

"Once the deal is fully phased in, Mercosur exporters will have additional market access of 99,000 tonnes and will be better off to the tune of €400m per annum. These impacts will be felt across the entire supply chain and are in addition to the well-publicised differences in production, sustainability and traceability standards between the EU and the Mercosur region.

"Not only would this €400m be a significant loss of tariff revenue for the European Commission, which could be used to part fund the next CAP, it will also have a very significant impact on the EU beef market," Crammond said.

These impacts would arise from South American beef exporters increasing their overall share of the EU market by leveraging their increased quota access and from the windfall tariff reduction gains.

As there are no volume limits in the agreement, Crammond said that Mercosur countries can continue, as they do today, to selectively target the high value steak market in Europe by paying the full out-of-quota tariffs and still land product into Ireland’s main EU markets at cheaper prices.

Safeguard

There is no safeguard in place to ensure a more balanced range of carcase cuts and this remains a fundamental flaw of the agreement, he added.

“There is still time to engage politically with EU leaders to stop the formal ratification of this agreement. MII was encouraged to see a commitment in the Programme for Government this week to work with like-minded countries to oppose the trade deal and the association will seek early engagement on this issue with An Taoiseach and relevant ministers once the Government is in place," he said.