Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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102. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the engagements that he has had with his ministerial colleagues regarding the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. [53095/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy may be aware, the European Commission reached political agreement in its trade negotiations with Mercosur countries in June 2019.

TheDepartment, my predecessors as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and I have played, and continue to play, an active role in developing Ireland's position across Government at all stages of these negotiations, including in their current phase.

Ongoing and close consultation is taking place between my Department and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on the Irish position in relation to the EU-Mercosur agreement. These discussions, in turn, inform Ireland's position at EU level, in particular in respect of issues related to the level of new market access provided for agri-food exports from Mercosur, and the environmental and climate change provisions in the agreement.

We raise these issues at EU Council of Ministers meetings, in both Trade and Agriculture formations, through direct engagement with the relevant Commissioners for Agriculture and Trade, and through close collaboration with EU countries who share these concerns.

After the announcement of the agreement, the Government committed to a full Economic and Sustainability Impact Assessment of the agreement. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in collaboration with my department, commissioned this study, and my Department and Teagasc fed extensively into the analysis.

Furthermore, Ireland has continued to raise concerns about the environmental and climate change provisions in the agreement, and is seeking the provision of additional enforceable guarantees that will strengthen environmental protections.

The Department continues to take every opportunity to articulate this position at EU level, including most recently at the Agri-Fish Council meeting last week in Luxembourg.

Ireland's beef system cannot be compared with Brazil's in terms of our committment to sustainability. Irish beef is a far superior product produced by our world-class farmers.

Based on the concerns raised by Ireland and other EU countries, the European Commission and the European External Action Service are currently engaged with Mercosur countries on negotiating enforceable commitments on climate and deforestation.

When the final text of the Agreement is presented to EU countries for approval, the Government’s position will be informed by its assessment of the additional enforcement provisions secured by the EU in the final text, as well as by the findings of the Economic and Sustainability Impact Assessment.