Ms Sinéad McPhillips:

That is a complicated question. The point is that the EU is open to imports from third countries. That is necessary because the EU is a major net exporter of food, so has to keep two-way trade going. We have seen from trade tensions elsewhere that European farmers, particularly Irish farmers, can be vulnerable to impacts where there are blockages to trade. We need to keep that in mind.

Mercosur countries can already export beef to the EU, and they do so. I will come back with exact figures for exports. The free trade agreement would, after the six-year phase-in, allow 99,000 tonnes of beef imports to come in at a low tariff rate. That is the concession in terms of the Mercosur agreement with the EU.