Beef Sector
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-19
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Martin Kenny (SF), Sligo-Leitrim

It is welcome that the Commission has decided it wants to ban Brazilian beef and other food products coming into Europe in spite of the Mercosur trade agreement. It has come to this late in the day. Many of us have been calling out Mercosur and the situation we have with the trade agreement for decades. Deputy Carthy, as an MEP, led the charge in the European Union. At one stage Phil Hogan accepted that they hoped to see foodstuffs taken off the table with regard to the Mercosur trade agreement because of concerns about Brazilian beef. However, it was not taken off. In 2019 we had a motion in the Dáil, one of the few motions the Opposition got through before the most recent election, and all of the Dáil supported ensuring we would mandate the Government to stand firm and put pressure on to ensure the Mercosur trade agreement did not go through because of the concerns outlined with regard to Brazilian beef in particular, but other food products from Brazil as well because of the very low standards. We also had a motion this year about this and there was a battle between farmers, consumers and environmentalists across Europe to ensure people in the European Commission would sit up and listen to the realities on the ground with regard to Brazilian beef and other food products coming from Brazil. We are now at a situation where they have recognised the reality so many of us have been pointing out for so long. They say they will ban this product coming into Europe. However, they are not going to do it for another three months. It makes no sense whatsoever. We want an assurance from Government that it will put maximum pressure on the Commission to ensure any ban going to happen with regard to Brazilian beef happens now, and they do not wait any longer for it. If this food product is dangerous, as has been proven, and is not meeting European standards it should not be given a three-month reprieve before we ensure it stops coming into the European Union. We have to stand firm and ensure consumers are protected and that the farming community meets the same standards everywhere for food coming into anywhere in Europe but particularly in Ireland.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:46+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-19