Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 February 2022
119. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has undertaken a study on the potential impact of the European Union Mercosur Trade Agreement on Irish beef farming; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6684/22]
View answerIreland was very disappointed with the inclusion of a Tariff Rate Quota of 99,000 tonnes of beef for the Mercosur countries in the EU-Mercosur political agreement.
I am concerned over the potential impact of the Mercosur trade deal especially in light of the sustainability credentials of the Mercosur countries compared with the high standards our beef farmers operate to. We had raised our very serious concerns about the potential impact of significant beef concessions on the Irish and EU beef markets right throughout the negotiating process.
We have done this through the Council of Ministers, through direct engagement with the relevant Commissioners for Agriculture and Trade, and through close collaboration with other Member States who shared those concerns. Indeed, the Tariff Rate Quota finally agreed would likely have been considerably higher in the absence of these efforts.
After the announcement of the agreement, the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment, in collaboration with my Department, commissioned this study, and my Department and Teagasc fed extensively into the work carried out by the consultants.
The study - which was published in July 2021 - concluded that, in a worst-case scenario, an additional 53,000 tonnes of beef would enter the EU market from Mercosur, with a negative impact on beef prices of the order of 2%.
The final text of the Agreement is yet to be presented to Member States to commence the ratification process.
The European Commission continues to engage with the Mercosur countries in relation to the inclusion of additional environmental provisions, particularly regarding deforestation. Ireland's position on the ratification process will be informed by our own impact assessment as well as the outcome of the Commission's efforts to achieve increased environmental sustainability.
