Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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233. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will report on the Mercosur talks; the steps he is taking to protect beef farmers; his views on whether beef should not form part of a potential Mercosur deal; and if he raised the matter at the last EU agriculture ministers meeting. [30772/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I and my officials have been very active in highlighting the potentially very damaging impact of a Mercosur deal on the European agriculture sector, and on the beef sector in particular.

At political level, I have raised the issue with my Member State colleagues and with Commissioners Hogan and Malmström, both within the Council of Agriculture Ministers and in written form.

These efforts have been reinforced at official level through similar contacts with Member States and the Commission, particularly through the Special Committee on Agriculture and the Trade Policy Committee.

At the recent Agri Fish Council of Ministers meeting in June, Ireland joined with a number of other member states, in requesting that negotiations should not proceed further until the Agriculture Council was given the opportunity to assess the balance between offers and commitments.

I also continue to monitor the situation closely in co-operation with my Government colleagues, particularly the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, and the Taoiseach.

While the Commission responded to the strong lobbying by Ireland and others by excluding a beef Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) from the offers exchanged with Mercosur on 11 May 2016, there is a need for continued vigilance in relation to the conduct of these trade negotiations. We are also insisting that the timing and content of any beef TRQ offer is handled appropriately, and in a manner that safeguards the interests of the Irish and European beef sector in particular.

This must also take into account the findings of the Commission’s recent cumulative impact assessment, which strongly reinforce Ireland’s position in relation to beef. They are also a very effective reminder of the need for great caution in our approach to the issue of beef TRQs.