Trade deal will undermine Common Agricultural Policy, declares Creed

THE credibility of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will be thrown into question by the proposed Mercosur trade deal, Fine Gael has warned.

Michael Creed, the party’s agriculture spokesman, said the EU has invested billions of taxpayers’ money on food safety, traceability, animal welfare and environmental standards.

But the value of this investment will be simply cast aside by the negotiation of a trade deal that is not based on equivalent standards for food imports, he said.

Creed warned that if the Mercosur deal is accepted, the EU will outsource a significant proportion of its food requirements.

As a result, the investment made by the European consumer in food safety and traceability standards will be lost.

Creed said the proposal is also illogical from an environmental perspective. The EU has attached great value to the pursuit of climate-change goals.

“But if we are outsourcing our food requirements, this objective will be entirely undermined by a reliance on imports with a heavy carbon footprint,” he said.

Creed said the calamitous consequences of this proposal on an already struggling Irish beef industry must be appreciated.

“The beef industry will be completely destabilised by a deal that does not take into account the need for a level playing field in standards and the credibility of the CAP will be jeopardised,” he said.

IFA Livestock Committee chairman Michael Doran called for the EU-Mercosur and Central American trade talks to be immediately disbanded.

He also urged Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith to urgently highlight “the failure of both South American and Central American countries to meet EU standards at the highest level in Brussels”.

Meanwhile, Independent MEP Marian Harkin urged the Government to strongly oppose the proposed Mercosur trade talks in cooperation with other EU countries which shared common concerns.