Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

As I said earlier, I am very concerned about these reports. The European Union currently imports approximately 200,000 tons of beef from Mercosur countries annually. There was an assessment done some years ago on the proposed EU-Mercosur agreement that it would result in an additional 50,000 tonnes once it was fully phased in, but approximately 99,000 tonnes would benefit from an in-quota tariff of 7.5%. The fact is that Mercosur beef is coming into the country and it has been, and it is very worrying that carcinogenic hormones have been detected.

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