The Mercosur trade agreement is set to allow for poultry products to be imported into the European Union.
That's according to Agriland's Technical Beef Specialist, Breifne O'Brien.
The Tánaiste Simon Harris confirmed today that Ireland will vote against the EU Mercosur Trade Agreement.
A vote on the trade agreement is set to take place at EU Commission level tomorrow (Friday, January 9th).
Co. Cavan farmer Breifne O'Brien, outlined that there had been uncertainty as to how Ireland would vote.
Speaking to Northern Sound, the Co. Cavan native said it is understood that Ireland's no vote will not be enough to stall the trade deal, as there will be enough expected votes to pass the agreement.
Mr. O'Brien explained that the main reason farmers are opposed to the deal is that it will allow 99,000 tonnes of South America beef into EU markets.
However, he highlighted that Ireland already does quite a lot of trade with the Mercosur countries.
Mr. O'Brien explained: "The deal includes 180,000 tonnes of poultry meet, which is expected to be predominately chicken, obviously there are a lot of poultry farmers in the region as well.
"To put that into context, it is 1.3% of total EU production. That figure is actually lower than the current import from Mercosur to the EU, which totalled 293,000 tonnes," he added.
The Cavan man also explained how beef farmers will be impacted by the introduction of South American beef to the market.
"To put the 99,000 tonnes of beef figure into context, European beef production fell by 169,000 tonnes year-on-year to 4.2 million tonnes, from January to August 2025 versus 2024," Mr. O'Brien said.
"We don't have any full year figures in yet, but it will be interesting to see when they come in," he added.
