Simon Coveney flags threat to beef sector

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney is urging the European Commission to keep sensitive products such as beef off the table until the end of the Mercosur trade talks.

The EU has already deferred sensitive trade-offs until late in TTIP talks with the US.

With indications that the EU may include tariff rate quotas for beef in a formal exchange of offers in early May with Argentina, Brazil, and other Mercosur countries, Mr Coveney is to join other EU states in highlighting farmers’ concerns at next week’s council of ministers meeting in Luxembourg.