Mercosur deal leaves farming community with uncertain future – Scanlon

Fianna Fáil TD for Sligo-Leitrim, Eamon Scanlon, has said the government should immediately request a full impact assessment and environmental analysis of the Mercosur deal on the beef sector.

He commented, “I represent the north west, where 95% of farming is suckler farming. We are also within the border region, which is most susceptible to the fall out of a hard Brexit. Any Mercosur trade deal would destroy farming as a viable livelihood in the area.

“Farmers in the north west cannot diversify. Land holdings are not suitable for dairy farming. Suckler farming is the only option for us which amplifies our concerns.

“In 2016, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre produced a damming report on the cumulative economic impact of future trade agreements on EU agriculture. It reported that additional imports dominated by Mercosur countries from a trade deal would cost the EU beef sector €5bn annually, with prices collapsing by up to 16%.

“The Irish Government failed to put up any fight with like-minded countries in the run up to Autumn 2017 and acquiesced to the EU’s initial beef offer of 70,000 tonnes to the Mercosur bloc. They also showed no urgency in building a coalition against the increased offer of 99,000 tonnes. As it stands we already have 114,000 tonnes coming into the country, we cannot afford to add to this number.

“I find it baffling that the Government have failed to request any new impact assessment since 2016. In the intervening three years, the situation facing beef farmers has gone from bad to worse. They have been failed badly by Government.

“An Environmental analysis should be carried out as well. Brazilian beef production uses four times the carbon compared with Irish beef production. Three weeks from the launch of the Government Climate Action Plan we cannot ignore the potential increase in carbon as a consequence of the trade deal.

“The Minister for Agriculture should lobby his former colleague, Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan, to ensure an impact assessment and environmental analysis of the Mercosur deal are carried out before any ratification of the deal,” concluded Deputy Scanlon.