Meat Industry Ireland (MII), has recently called on the Government to block moves by the European Commission to complete the Mercosur trade deal, as 'now is not the time'.
In a statement the Ibec group representing the Irish meat processing and export sector has expressed concern that this unbalanced deal would 'significantly undermine' the EU beef market, with 'particular repercussions' for the Irish beef sector.
"Given the huge uncertainty we face in the context of Brexit, coupled with the findings of the European Commission's own impact assessment report that states a trade deal with Mercosur would have serious negative implications for the EU beef market," Cormac Healy, Director of MII stated.
Healy said that the negotiations have been stumbling along for twenty years in a stop-start fashion, largely due to Mercosur's own inability to act as a cohesive customs union and trade bloc, so now is certainly not the time to rush a deal over the line.
"A Mercosur deal that would allow any additional volume of concessionary beef imports onto the EU market must be avoided." He said.
As Ireland is the main exporter of beef to the rest of the EU market, the Irish cattle and beef sector would suffer the greatest consequences of this deal, the statement noted.
© 2017 - Checkout Magazine by Donna Ahern
