"The Irish Farmers Association welcomed the decision of the Government to vote no against the deal, insisting that the proposed safeguards in the document to do not give assurances that Brazilian beef will meet EU standards. IFA president Francie Gorman said: "Our MEPs now have a crucial role to play in building alliances within their groupings and amongst colleagues from other countries to build opposition to the deal. IFA will work with our colleagues in COPA between now and the Parliament vote.""
""Our message to MEPs is to follow suit with the Irish Government when they honoured the commitment in the Programme for Government to vote against this deal. "Our MEPs now have to do the same and also work with MEPs across the spectrum in the European Parliament to build alliances and make sure they can build a majority vote against this deal which will probably be tabled some time in early spring.""
An EU ambassador approved a trade deal with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay but the agreement still requires European Parliament approval. The Irish Government voted against the deal in its current form, with senior Cabinet figures saying negotiations are not finalised. The deal covers four Mercosur countries and has raised concerns among Irish beef farmers that lower-cost Brazilian beef could threaten Irish exports to Europe. The Irish Farmers Association welcomed the government's no vote and argued that proposed safeguards do not ensure Brazilian beef meets EU standards. Protests, including a large tractor demonstration in Athlone, called for MEPs to oppose the deal.
Read at Irish Independent
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