Mandelson claims IFA is ‘getting facts wrong’

THE war of words between the Irish Farmers’ Association and EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson worsened last night as they accused him of “breathtaking arrogance”, as he insisted they are getting their facts wrong.

In the latest twist to the on-going row with farmers over World Trade Organisation negotiations, Mr Mandelson argued that they should not mix up the Lisbon treaty with the Doha talks and urged them to vote for the treaty.

But his advice is likely to have the opposite effect, as the IFA who insisted there was a strong link between the treaty and his negotiations.

Mr Mandelson — who has become the focus of the IFA’s campaign against plans to open up Europe’s beef market to imports — said there was absolutely no question of selling out European or Irish farming in the current Doha round.

“The Irish Farmers’ Association are getting their facts wrong and the first step is for people to understand what’s really at stake in these negotiations and why the Irish beef industry can and will be secured.”

The IFA say beef tariffs — the amount of beef allowed into the EU — would reduce by 70%, but Mr Mandelson insisted it would be just 23%, as beef is to be treated as a sensitive product. And the new import quota of 700,000 tonnes annually would be for the entire EU, not just Ireland.

The IFA reacted vigorously, saying total imports would be 1.35 million tonnes — a sizeable proportion given that Ireland consumes just 50,000 tonnes.

“The imports from Brazilian ranchers would force Irish cattle prices down to €2 a kg, which would be completely unviable and would wipe out Ireland’s one million beef cows,” said IFA president Padraig Walshe. “In a complete perversion of the facts, Mandelson pretends that massive imports of South American beef will not damage the Irish food industry.”

Mr Mandelson said he understood the concerns of Irish farmers and that the negotiations are exacerbating their anxieties over the reform of the Common Agriculture Policy. He reminded them that they are the largest per capita recipients of farm subsidies in the EU, “but that makes change inevitable as that farm support is reformed.”