Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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936. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a full assessment of the economic impact on Irish agriculture of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement has been carried out by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2921/20]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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As I said at the time of last year’s EU-Mercosur political agreement, I was very disappointed by the outcome of these negotiations, which included a 99,000 tonnes Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) for Beef from the Mercosur countries.  However, the Deputy should be aware that there is still a long way to go on this. The agreement will be put through a process of legal scrubbing, which could take up to two years, before being put before the European Trade Council for ratification by Qualified Majority Vote, and the European Parliament.

An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar TD, announced that a whole-of-government review of the economic and sustainability impact on Ireland of the agreement would be undertaken. This research is being led by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, who have overall responsibility for Irish Trade policy, with specialist input and assistance from my Department.

Following a tender process, Implement Consulting Group have been commissioned to deliver the study, and a final report is expected by the end of August 2020.