July 5, 2011
Irish beef industry to be affected by trade deal
It is believed that the Ireland's beef production industry could be seriously weakened if European leaders consent to a trade deal with South America's leading beef exporting countries.
The government is to receive a report from the European Commission in the coming days setting out the economic impact on Ireland of a trade agreement between the EU and South America's Mercosur countries.
The commission has already provided Simon Coveney, the Minister for Agriculture, with a preliminary report on the impact of the agreement on the sector here.
The commission said it had sent the preliminary internal report to the government as part of bilateral trade talks with the Mercosur countries of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
A spokesman for the minister said he could not discuss the contents of the preliminary report, but that Coveney was awaiting the arrival of the full report.
Elements of the preliminary report relating to the agri-sector were leaked earlier this year and suggested that there would be widespread job losses here arising from the introduction of a high volume of cheaper South American beef into the European market.
Several other nations favour opening up trade links with the Mercosur states to facilitate the sale of European goods into South America.
The full report is expected to deal with significant areas of concern which Coveney and other ministers are likely to raise in their opposition to the proposal, including the carbon footprint element of such a deal and the impact on other agri related trade sectors, including the food industry.
Coveney has already signalled that the Irish position on such a deal would be that it ''made no sense for many reasons'' to allow a very large quota of beef into the EU to displace beef produced in countries such as Ireland.
He said earlier this year that "Ireland produced beef with the lowest carbon footprint in the world because we have a grass-based system, in contrast to the system used by South American countries, which was highly intensive."
''I cannot see any sense in the EU simply replacing Irish meat," Coveney said.' 'We export 80% of everything we produce.
''Most other beef industries feel threatened by Mercosur for domestic reasons, but we export to other European countries."