A lobby group representing meat processing businesses has said the Irish beef sector is on course to lose up to €130 million in revenue as a result of the EU-Mercosur Agreement.
Meat Industry Ireland (MII), which represents beef, pork and lamb processing businesses, has criticised the EU-Mercosur Agreement, claiming the Irish beef sector is on course to lose up to €130 million in revenue as a result of the deal.
The Mercosur deal is a major trade agreement between the European Union and Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, with the potential to see import tariffs of more than €4 billion a year being cut on EU trade with the South American economies.
The deal has seen major opposition from farmers and environmentalists in the EU because it involves opening the European market to cheaper South American agricultural products.
The deal was signed in 2019, but is yet to be fully implemented.
Dale Crammond, director of Meat Industry Ireland (MII), which represents beef, pork and lamb processing businesses, said that once the deal is fully phased in, Mercosur exports “will have additional market access of 99,000 tonnes and will be better off to the tune of €400 million per annum”.
“These impacts will be felt across the entire supply chain and are in addition to the well-publicised differences in production, sustainability and traceability standards between the EU and the Mercosur region,” he said, speaking in Naas on Friday.
He said that an analysis carried out by MII – an Ibec-linked association – found that the Mercosur deal will have a significant impact on the EU beef market, and will disproportionately hit the Irish economy.
“An analysis carried out by MII indicates that once the proposed Agreement is fully phased in, the annual reduction in EU beef market output values will be approximately €1.3 billion, with a disproportionate impact of an estimated €100-130 million to the Irish beef sector because of its very high export-dependence on other EU markets,” he said.
“This equates to a loss of €75 to €95 per head based on our prime kill.”
Mr Crammond said that there was still time to “engage politically” with EU leaders to halt ratification of the trade deal.
“MII was encouraged to see a commitment in the Programme for Government this week to work with like-minded countries to oppose the trade deal and the association will seek early engagement on this issue with An Taoiseach and relevant Ministers once the Government is in place.”
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