The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA) has reacted angrily to the confirmation that the EU-Mercosur Interim Trade Agreement will come into force on May 1.

Sean McNamara, the association's president, said he is "outraged" that the European Commission has moved to provisional apply the trade deal.

As Agriland reported earlier today (Monday, March 23), the EU has notified the Mercosur countries about the provisional application of the interim trade deal.

The trade agreement will apply provisionally from May 1 between the EU and all Mercosur countries that complete their ratification procedures and notified the EU before the end of March.

Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have already done so and Paraguay is expected to follow suit in the very near future.

The deal will, among numerous other provisions, allow an additional 99,000t of beef from Mercosur countries enter the EU at a reduced tariff rate.

That provision has drawn widespread criticism from the EU agri-sector, including from Irish farm organisations.

The trade agreement is being applied on an interim basis as part of a procedure that allows the trade provisions of the wider political agreement between the EU and Mercosur to enter into force even though that political agreement is yet to be ratified by the European Parliament.

The commission's decision to carry out the ratification of the trade deal in this way has drawn a lot of criticism, and has been referred to the Court of Justice of the EU by the parliament.

Reacting to the latest development today, ICSA president McNamara said that the provisional application of the trade deal "is happening despite the European Parliament not having voted on it and the ongoing legal review by the [court]".

"What is happening is disgraceful, and farmers everywhere will rightly feel angered and let down," he added.

"Farmers have mobilised massive opposition to this deal and repeatedly highlighted the environmental risks and dangers to consumers from hormone-treated beef, yet the commission appears willing to press ahead anyway," he added.

Beef treated with hormones is not permitted to enter the EU under the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement, or at all. However, despite official controls to prevent this, it has occurred, most notably at the end of last year, with some of that beef sold and likely consumed in Ireland.

"This disregard for the concerns of Irish and European farmers is deeply frustrating and unacceptable," McNamara said.

The ICSA president also said the timing of the announcement today "could not be worse".

"Farmers are already grappling with soaring fuel and input costs, as well as extreme uncertainty over future CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] supports," he said.

"The sector simply cannot bear anymore pressure. What makes this even more galling is the sense among farmers that no matter how strong or widespread the opposition, their voices are being ignored," McNamara added.

"That cannot be allowed to stand," he commented.