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French & German Opposition to TTIP Welcomed by ICSA

Sep 10, 2016 | General News, ICSA in the Media | 0 comments

 THAT’S FARMING – 3 SEPTEMBER 2016


Emerging consensus from the French and German governments that they will not accept an EU deal with the USA.

ICSA president Patrick Kent has said that he is pleased to see opposition to a TTIP trade deal growing in high places.

“ICSA has been campaigning against TTIP from the very start as we believe it offers nothing but trouble and is potentially very damaging to the Irish beef sector. Accordingly, I welcome the emerging consensus from the French and German governments that they will not accept an EU deal with the USA.”

“We are very clear that Irish beef farmers do not want a race to the bottom which is why we held successful protests against TTIP, as well as Mercosur and CETA earlier this year. ICSA opposition to unfair trade deals was covered by international television networks on three continents – North America, Asia and Europe. 

While an exporting country like Ireland needs to develop export markets, the problem is that these deals are not designed to help ordinary farm families but rather to facilitate the exploitation of lowest cost producers with the lowest standards by big business. It really is time to insist that we go back to the drawing board with all international trade deals. While economic theory is that free trade maximises overall economic gain, the reality is that poorly designed trade deals just lead to an unacceptable cost to farmers and workers while big business grabs the profits. Meanwhile there is only dubious marginal impact for consumers but at what cost to society and to healthy nutrition?”

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