Govt ‘No’ to Mercosur the Right Call

IFA President Francie Gorman said the confirmation this morning that the Irish Government will vote no to the Mercosur deal is the right decision.

“There’s a clear commitment in the Programme for Government that our Government would oppose the deal. The so-called safeguards put forward by the EU Commission do not give any assurances that Brazilian beef will meet EU standards,” he said.

“In our discussions with members of Government over the last 48 hours, we re-stated that opposition to the Mercosur deal was the only credible position the Government could adopt. Farmers would have felt let down by any other approach.”

Francie Gorman said IFA’s campaign opposing Mercosur will continue after tomorrow’s meeting of the EU Ambassadors.

The announcement follows yesterday’s revelation that Brazilian beef containing banned hormones entered the Irish food chain in recent months and is now subject to an official recall by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.

“This shows that the undertaking from Brazil about the processes they have in place are completely flawed and wholly ineffective,” he said.

“In 2024, a previous EU audit found that the Brazilian system to stop hormones entering the EU food chain could not be relied upon. We were told by the EU Commission that Brazil implemented an action plan to address this. Yet, hormones have now entered the EU and Irish food chain.” he said.

“The question is: are Brazil misleading the EU or are the EU misleading their citizens. We need full disclosure immediately,” he said.