On July 9, the National Council of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), the National Committee for Livestock and the National Poultry Committee will hold a lobbying session for all MPs and senators to counter this deal with Mercosur.
“We will focus on the damage that this deal will cause at several levels — the rural economy in Ireland, the global environment and consumers,” said Joe Healy, president of the Irish Farmers Association.
As part of the campaign, the IFA will highlight the environmental damage caused by beef production in Brazil. In its campaign, the IFA will use the slogan “One is burned every minute” from a recent BBC report that says that every minute rainforests are burned in an area the size of a football field to clear the ground for grazing and cattle breeding.
On July 10, Joe Healy, livestock chairman Agnus Woods and poultry director Andy Boylan traveled to Brussels to meet with other farm leaders opposed to the agreement and meet EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vitenis Andriukaitis, responsible for meat import standards.
“The fact that the European Commission is trying to sell us does not mean that we will not continue to fight this agreement and create an alliance against it,” the Irish Farmers Association said.
