Full coverage: Beef

Ireland says no but Mercosur may very well pass today – after 25 years of to-and-fro. The thorny issues at play and drawn-out negotiations send a bad signal to other would-be trading partners.

Ireland’s critique of the EU-Mercosur trade deal is causing increasing frustration in Brussels but MEPs are taking their time to pore over the fine print on new safeguards for farmers.

In the second part of our trade deal series, The Currency looks at how the 2020 EU-Vietnam agreement still leaves hurdles for Irish food exporters, while the country could serve as a beachhead for business in south-east Asia.

The group owned by the Queally and Browne families exited Elivia last year to focus on the UK instead. It is now clearer what returns it received from France’s number-two beef processor – and why it chose to leave.

After years struggling along without returning profits, French beef processing giant Elivia turned a corner in 2020. The Queally and Browne families own half the company, with an option to take it over fully in the coming years.

Larry Goodman’s decision to appoint a prominent London dealmaker to his family holdings one year ago, and the departure of his son Mark from ABP's senior executive team last month, book-end a period of dramatic change. What is next for the beef processing giant?

Last month, the Minister for Agriculture was burning the midnight oil in EU talks worth €10bn to Ireland. Next month, his industry is facing Brexit chaos. Yet Charlie McConalogue is at his most combative when discussing the lack of transparency in the beef trade.

As his office prepares to take on sweeping new responsibilities, Ireland’s top competition law enforcer Brian McHugh discusses Brexit, EU-wide efforts to regulate tech multinationals and the CCPC’s reluctance to tackle beef barons.

Just one year ago, meat factories now at the centre of Covid-19 outbreaks were facing another storm, with pickets at their gates. Complaints gave rise to an examination of competition in the sector, but a trawl of the 316 files in the case shows that while the CCPC found time to threaten protesting farmers with legal action, the watchdog stopped short of contacting beef barons.

Live streams, smartphone bids and USB gavels became features of livestock sales as soon as the Covid-19 lockdown closed marts to the public. Technology providers are vying for this business, which appears to be here to stay.