Bill to compel all Mercosur meat to be labelled for Irish consumers Sun, 06 Sep, 2026 – 11:44Louise Burne
Meat from Mercosur countries being sold in Ireland would require large labels informing consumers of its origin under new legislation proposed by the Green Party.
The bill, to be brought to the Seanad by Senator Malcolm Noonan, would require that the words “Mercosur Meat” appear prominently on all packaging.
The controversial Mercosur Deal was passed at a European Council meeting in January. The Government decided to oppose the trade agreement between the EU and certain South American countries, which will allow beef products from South America to be sold in the bloc.
The European Parliament later voted 334 to 324 to request the European Court of Justice to assess whether the EU-Mercosur agreement conformed with the EU treaties, something it was believed would take up to two years.
However, the European Commission provisionally implemented the contentious trade deal from May 1.
The new laws now being proposed by the Green Party and Mr Noonan would ensure that any meat from Mercosur countries in Irish stores would be clearly labelled.
This includes meat coming from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and other countries which fall under the EU-Mercosur trade deal.
The European Commission suspended imports of meat from Brazil last week over concerns about antibiotic use.
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The Greens are proposing that the words would appear in a font size that is no smaller than the largest font size on the packaging or label, apart from the brand name.
It must be positioned so that it is “clearly visible and legible” and in a way that it is “not obscured, qualified, diluted or visually interrupted by other texts or images”.
The Green Party argued that its legislation would allow consumers to make “informed choices about the food that they purchase” and enable people to support Irish.
Mr Noonan said that while he was “not confident” that the Government would support his plans, he is looking to facilitate a “wider debate on the labelling of food here” when the proposed bill is discussed in the Seanad.
“It’s not just country or region of origin, it’s about addressing misleading information, alerting consumers to the possible presence of pesticides in food and the embodied carbon or food miles of the food we consume,” he told the Irish Examiner.
“We are in the depths of a climate and biodiversity crisis. We all have purchasing power; we can choose to buy good, wholesome local food for our families, we can ensure that school meals and food in restaurants are locally sourced and, if possible, Irish grown [and] reared.”
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