The Mercosur trade deal could “stop a price increase” for Irish beef and hit farmers’ profit margins should it be ratified in the European Parliament, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) agm has heard.
The controversial deal, which would see Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay sell goods to the EU with fewer restrictions, was approved by member states last week, though it remains subject to ratification through an upcoming vote by MEPs.
Speaking at the agm in Dublin on Tuesday, IFA president Francie Gorman told those in attendance the deal would be “bad for public health” and rural Ireland.
Highlighting concerns over the extra 99,000 tonnes of beef the Mercosur trade deal will allow the four countries to sell into the European market, Mr Gorman said this is the equivalent of “millions of cattle coming into the EU”.
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“It mightn’t precipitate a price drop, but it could stop a price increase, and we’ve worked for decades, particularly in the beef sector, for the prices we’ve got today.
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“There would be an awful lot of people in this room, in the dry stock sector, that wouldn’t be farming today but for the fact that those prices came in the way they did over the last 12 months in particular,” he said, to a round of applause.
A worldwide scarcity of beef drove prices up by 40 per cent in 2025.
Mr Gorman called on the Government to campaign to “stop this Mercosur trade deal going through”, adding the IFA will work through its Brussels office to build opposition ahead of a vote by MEPs.
The deal dominated this year’s agm, with Michael Haverty, vice-chair of the IFA’s national livestock committee, saying it is “not just a farming issue”.
Mr Haverty, who has a suckler farm in Co Galway, said farmers remain “slightly hopeful” that MEPs may vote against it.
Alongside “consumer health”, he said, the financial repercussions of cheaper meat entering the Irish market is another key potential impact.
Mr Haverty said last year was “the first good year in probably 30 that livestock farmers had a return for the work they’re doing”.
“We’re producing probably the highest-quality meat in the world, and we can stand over that,” he said, adding that Mercosur countries are at a “huge advantage from a cost point of view”.
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“If you’re producing a premium product, which is what we’re producing, naturally it’s going to command a premium price, so it is going to be a little bit more expensive, but consumers can rest assured that the food they’re putting on the table for their families is safe, whereas Mercosur beef or poultry, we can’t say the same for that,” he said.
During an address earlier on Tuesday, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said concerns among farmers and consumers are “entirely understandable”, noting that Brazilian-originating beef containing a growth hormone banned in the EU had been recalled from the Irish market in December.
He said the Government continues to work with “like-minded countries” and continues to engage with the European Commission “around our concerns around this deal”.
In his address at the agm on Tuesday evening, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government has been “intensively” engaging at EU level “to voice Ireland’s concerns” over the trade deal.
“We continue to have significant concerns relating to certain agricultural standards under the agreement, and the impact this could have on European farm incomes,” he told attendees.
“We will continue to advocate on this issue, and I as Taoiseach, and we as a Government, remain committed to supporting agriculture and ensuring the long-term financial and environmental sustainability of the sector,” he said.
