Mandelson denies US beef export deal

EUROPEAN Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has denied speculation that he has agreed a deal on beef imports from the US.

Ireland East MEP Mairead McGuinness raised the issue with the Commissioner’s Office in Brussels after the Irish Farmers Association president Padraig Walshe made the claim after returning from a visit to the US.

Mr Walshe said he had discovered from high-level meetings and trade contacts in Washington that Mr Mandelson has secretly offered American ranchers a deal that would allow them to send 35,000 tonnes of beef into Europe (equivalent to 100,000 head of cattle).