Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies McConalogue, Aylward and Cahill for raising this matter. The agreement reached on 28 June on an EU-Mercosur trade deal marks the end of 20 years of negotiations between the two blocs. While I acknowledge the importance of balanced international trade deals for Ireland's economy, including its agricultural sector, I am very disappointed that the agreement includes a significant tariff rate quota that would allow the importation of beef from Mercosur to the European Union at preferential tariff rates at a time when the beef sector in Europe is facing significant uncertainty because of Brexit. I have worked hard with other Ministers and the Taoiseach, and with colleagues in other European member states, to mitigate the potential impact of an EU-Mercosur agreement on European agriculture. While the outcome is disappointing, the length of time it has taken to arrive at this point is at least in part due to the concerted efforts over many years of Ireland and other like-minded member states to protect the European Union agricultural sector to the maximum extent possible.

In addition to pointing out the considerable difficulties that the concessions of a significant beef tariff rate quota would create for the Irish beef sector over a period when the European beef market is likely to continue to be very delicately balanced and against the backdrop of a potentially very damaging impact from Brexit, Ireland repeatedly called for coherence between the European Union's trade policy objectives and its climate change responsibilities to be demonstrated by not extending more favourable conditions to beef imports from trade partners that are producing in a less environmentally sustainable manner. We have focused not only on the EU's market impact and sustainability aspects but also on the size of the quota, the technicalities associated with quota management and the cumulative impact of potential concessions under the range of current and future negotiations in order to mitigate the outcome of these negotiations. It is worth noting in this regard that the beef tariff rate quota agreed is considerably less than that which had been sought by Mercosur countries which, at one point, were demanding a quota of 300,000 tonnes. In addition, the tariff rate quota is split between fresh and frozen product and will be phased in over a period of years. Therefore, the full impact of the agreement is unlikely to be felt for a considerable period.

We must also acknowledge that there may be some opportunities for the Irish dairy sector and drinks industry. In addition, our colleagues at the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation estimate that a potential doubling of annual goods and services exports from Ireland is possible over the period to 2030.

It is early days and there are still a number of steps to be taken before the agreement can be implemented. It will be first put through a process called legal scrubbing and translation which could take up to two years. It will then be submitted to the Council of trade Ministers for approval by qualified majority vote and to the European Parliament for its consent. If provisionally applied at that point, it would still take a number of years to come into full effect. The Oireachtas and other national parliaments may also ultimately have a role in ratification. We will examine the text carefully to assess its impact on the Irish economy and the agrifood sector generally and reflect on the appropriate steps in the context of both engaging further with member state colleagues and examining ways to diminish the potential impact of the agreement.

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