A decision by the European Parliament to refer the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement to the European Court of Justice (CJEU) has been welcomed by the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA).

During a plenary session of the parliament today (Wednesday, January 21), 334 MEPs voted in favour of a motion to refer the controversial trade deal to Europe's highest court, while 324 were against.

The motion seeks legal advice on whether both elements of the deal with the south American countries of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay complies with the Treaties of the EU.

It is understood that it could take from 18-24 months for the relevant legal advice to be provided.

ICMSA

ICMSA president, Denis Drennan, said that the referral of the proposed deal to the European Courts of Justice was "a recognition of the fundamental contradictions that the Mercosur Agreement papered over".

"We can be confident that the judges would look at the agreement in a much more sceptical and balanced fashion that went beyond what was in the commercial interests of corporations and Eurocrats in the commission," he said.

On Saturday (January 17), the EU and the four Mercosur countries signed the free trade agreement following 25 years of negotiations.

The agreement would create the world's biggest free trade zone, covering a market of over 700 million consumers and would eliminate tariffs on 91% of all products exported between the two regions.

The deal would also allow an additional 99,000t of beef from Mercosur enter the EU at a much reduced tariff rate of 7.5%.

European farmers are concerned that the agreement will result in cheaper imports, produced to a lower standard, flooding the market. They remain unconvinced by "safeguards" proposed by the European Commission as part of the deal.

The agreement will require the consent of the European Parliament before it can be formally ratified.