Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin (Wicklow-Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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880. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way in which he plans to safeguard Irish farm competitiveness in the face of ongoing EU trade negotiations, including Mercosur; if he will request mandatory safeguards to prevent Irish beef, dairy, and tillage producers being undermined by imports produced to lower standards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64001/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Government makes two clear commitments regarding agriculture and new Free Trade Agreements. Firstly, it states that the Government will "promote new Free Trade Agreements, ensuring proper assurances regarding sustainability, human rights and the protection of our agricultural sector”. The protection of our agricultural sector is paramount in Ireland’s position on new trade agreements.

On Mercosur, the Programme for Government is clear in its commitment to “work with like-minded EU countries to stand up for Irish farmers and defend our interests in opposing the current Mercosur trade deal."

Irish and EU farmers are subject to complex regulations requiring them to farm in a sustainable manner, which is why it is important to ensure that farmers in Mercosur countries are subject to the same requirements.

As part of the European Commission’s recent announcement on the proposal for the ratification of the EU-Mercosur Agreement, the Commission has committed to increasing the number of audits and checks in third countries, and strengthening SPS controls on the ground.

More recently, the Commission has also brought forward a regulation on safeguards for sensitive agricultural products in the context of the EU-Mercosur Agreement. This proposed regulation makes a number of commitments regarding applying safeguard measures in terms of transparency, monitoring and speed of response.

Ireland has sought clear, transparent and regular two-way engagement on the monitoring of the market situation for sensitive products, as well as some clarity on definitions within the regulation and the use of surveillance measures. We will continue to engage with the Commission on these issues.