Ireland secures further support for its opposition to Mercosur deal

IRELAND received more support than it expected when it flagged the dangers of a trade agreement with Mercosur that does not take sufficient account of the needs of agriculture.

Trade Minister Richard Bruton claimed that an impact assessment by the European Commission conducted earlier this year on the effect of such a major free trade agreement between Europe and the South American countries confirmed Irish fears that it would have a detrimental affect on the country’s beef exports.

Eight countries spoke in favour of Mr Bruton’s request that the full results of the impact study, when it becomes available, be discussed in detail by the trade council before any offer is made to the Mercosur countries.

“It shows there is a degree of support across the member states with similar concerns as ours,” Mr Bruton said.

He warned that an agreement that gave Argentinian beef too much access to EU markets would have a profound impact on Irish beef.

“For a country that needs an export led-recovery and where food is one of the brighter opportunities, we need to put down a marker,” he said.

He met Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht after the meeting, who said there was considerable support for Ireland’s demand for caution to ensure a balance between the concerns of food security and the food industry and opportunities for other trade growth.

France, Romania, Poland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, Greece, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain and Sweden all have reservations about the Mercosur deal.

Mr Bruton said the initial results of the impact assessment surprised many countries as they had not realised the effect a free trade agreement with Mercosur could have on the EU’s food industry.

The preliminary findings showed an overall net gain to the EU, but the analysis also showed there would be substantial losses in a number of key agriculture sectors and these would seriously impact many member states.

Mr Bruton said the assessments suggested that an equitable balance of advantage will be very difficult to achieve. “This is an important objective in any free trade agreement,” he said.

No offer is expected to be made until later in the year because of elections in Argentina in October. Further meetings are planned in Brussels in July and in November in Paraguay.