Taoiseach Micheál Martin clarified the Government’s recent actions and stance on Mercosur when addressing the IFA AGM on Tuesday evening.

The Government had been “engaged intensively at European Union level to voice Ireland’s concerns in relation to the EU-Mercosur agreement,” he said.

Martin acknowledged “the constructive approach of the European Commission and the spirit which they engaged with member states”, highlighting that “we did secure improvements to the agreement”.

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“The proposed trigger for activating safeguards, which had already been moved from 10% to 8%, has been set at a further reduced threshold of 5% of import volume increase, or 5% price reduction at individual member state level over a three year average period,” he added.

“However, we continue to have significant concerns relating to certain agricultural standards under the agreement and the impact this could have on European farm incomes.

“We concluded that the new and additional commitments, while welcome, were not sufficient to satisfy the concerns of our farmers and our consumers, and we took the decision to vote against the EU Mercosur agreement.”

The Taoiseach concluded by saying that the Government “will continue to advocate on this issue”, while welcoming the reopening of the Chinese market for beef.

“I pressed the case for the robustness, transparency and effectiveness of Ireland’s animal health traceability and food safety systems” in meetings with Chinese officials, he told farmers.