'Taoiseach must be prepared to veto Mercosur deal in Europe' – Woods

Despite objections from 11 EU member states, including France and Ireland, the European Commission is trying to finalise a Mercosur trade deal by the end of 2017 and recently put a new offer of an additional 70,000t of beef on the table. South American countries already have access to Europe for up to 246,000t of beef imports, mainly high-value steak cuts. The EU is handing over the best steak meat market in the world to the Brazilians and Argentinians. It makes no sense.

The Commission is failing to treat beef as a sensitive sector – as Canada did to protect chicken in the Ceta deal and Japan did when it insisted on a 15-year phase-in and 9% tariffs on EU beef imports.

French president Emmanuel Macron and European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan have battled hard to protect agriculture but European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström is prepared to sacrifice agriculture for a deal. An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar may have to use the veto option.

Impact on EU beef sector

A 2016 EU Joint Research Centre report showed how vulnerable European beef, particularly the suckler sectors in France, Spain and Ireland, is to trade deals.

Increased imports from Mercosur countries would hit EU beef prices by up to 16% or €5bn annually. It could cost Ireland €500m to €750m.

Europe is a mature market, with no room for more beef imports.

Brexit has placed a major doubt over the UK market for 260,000t of Irish beef. Without the UK, the EU beef market would be 116% self-sufficient. To negotiate a trade deal with Mercosur at this time makes no sense.

Beef farmers are constantly told to reduce dependence on direct payments and get more from the market but Mercosur imports will seriously damage our market with cheaper, substandard imports.

With climate change as one of the major drivers of CAP 2020, it would be a complete contradiction for European politicians to agree a Mercosur deal that replaces sustainable beef production with South American imports.

Brazil’s export growth is achieved by destruction of the Amazon rainforests. Brazilian beef production has increased by 40% in the last 20 years and the herd now stands at 226m head.

Greenhouse gas emissions from Brazilian beef are estimated at 80kg CO2-eq/kg of meat, including land use changes (LUC), four times higher than Irish suckler beef production at 19kg CO2-eq/kg.

Double standards

In Europe, we produce to the highest standards of traceability, food safety, animal health and the environment, at major cost. The Weak Flesh scandal proved that Brazil fails to meet EU standards on all these parameters.

In May, the European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office stated: “The Brazilian Competent Authority is not in a position to guarantee that the relevant export requirements are met” and “the Competent Authorities are signing export reports certificates despite being unable to ascertain the veracity of certain statements therein”.

The IFA/Irish Farmers Journal investigations in 2006/2007 showed widespread availability and illegal use of veterinary medicines in Brazil that are banned in the EU, including hormones and beta-agonists.

A recent meeting of the EU Beef Civil Dialogue Group revealed that the EU does not test Brazilian imports for hormones or beta-agonists. Since the EU increased checks following the Brazilian scandal, 363 shipments of meat have been rejected. In reality, the European Commission operates a complete double standard on imports.

The Irish beef and livestock sector is worth €2.5bn, with 90% of output exported. There are 100,000 farmers and a further 20,000 people employed in processing, marts, merchants, transport and input supplies. The sector supports important economic activity in every parish in rural Ireland. There is a vital national interest here.

Like Garret FitzGerald did with milk quotas in 1984, Leo Varadkar must make it clear in Europe that he will not put a bad deal on beef before the Dáil and that we are prepared to use the veto.