Tipperary farming: EU should scrap Mercosur while Amazon burns

It is time the EU Commission stood up to Brazil's President Bolsonaro and told him bluntly that Europe will not tolerate the burning of the rainforests to clear land for more beef exports as part of the Mercosur deal, according to IFA national livestock chair Angus Woods.

Mr Woods acknowledged the comments by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that Ireland will block a Mercosur deal because of the burning of the Amazon rainforests, but he criticised the silence of the EU Commission.

He said President Bolsonaro and his Government had literally put a match to the Amazon rainforests and told the European Union "to mind their own business".

Mr Woods said there was widespread destruction of the rainforests - an area the size of a football pitch is burned down every minute to clear the ground for grazing and cattle ranching.

Since January this year, Brazil has had more than 74,000 fires in the Amazon rainforests, an 83% increase on 2018, according to the INPE (The National Institute for Space Research in Brazil).

Mr  Woods said when the EU / Mercosur trade deal was done in June, IFA highlighted the failure of Brazil and others to meet EU standards and the environmental damage to the rainforests.

This had been strongly rejected by Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan who said "no beef will be allowed enter the EU market unless it complies 100% with EU standards" and "the agreement includes a binding commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement", said Mr Woods.

He said that it was clear the Brazilians had told the EU to "get lost" on the environment, with President Bolsonaro saying he "encourages farmers to clear the land" and accusing environmental groups of "setting fire to the forests".