ICMSA call for Department to take responsibility for farmer deforestation requirements due next year – “They already have all the information they are looking for!”

Following on from a meeting with Department of Agriculture officials on Monday 14 July around farmer compliance with the new EU Deforestation Regulations, the Chairperson of ICMSA’s Livestock Committee, Michael O’Connell, has called again on the Department to re-evaluate what he described as a “dizzyingly complicated and cumbersome process” by which farmers will be expected to complete individual Due Diligence Statements.

In simple terms, as and from July 1, 2026, a farmer putting an animal on the market for the first time, whether it be a farm-to-farm sale, via a livestock mart, or a meat processing plant, will need to have an accompanying Due Diligence Statement. The Due Diligence Statement (DDS) will state that the animal has come from lands that have not been subject to deforestation since 2020.   Arising from the 14 July meeting, it is understood that the breeder of an animal will have to generate the DDS on a yearly basis where it will state the number of animals they intend to move off farm in the calendar year, while the person who brings this animal to slaughter will need to provide an XY coordinate of the parcel/parcels of land on which the specific animal grazed.   This process is a complete contradiction of the so-called EU simplification agenda.

The ICMSA Livestock Chairperson dismissed the impression given by the Department officials that all this would be a straightforward and simple exercise. Having reviewed the system, Mr. O’Connell said, “it would be genuinely difficult to come up with an exercise that is more dizzyingly complicated and cumbersome than this process – and all to no point or benefit whatsoever.  We have been exposed to the almost daily official promises of ‘simplification’ and commitments to strip out excess bureaucracy. But here we are again with another massive exercise in absolute futility that is not alone pointless right now, but is almost guaranteed to cause confusion and problems down the road when it comes to livestock movements”, said Mr. O’Connell.

The Department have stated that it is the obligation on the farmer or the person whom the farmer nominates as a representative (farm advisor/planner, etc) to generate the DDS.  But according to Mr O’Connell, ICMSA has looked closely at the EUDR Information System user guide training videos and guides and are certain that (A) it’s going to be a ‘minefield’ in terms of obligations and (B) it’s going to cause frustration and confusion amongst farmers once it is rolled out.

“To give just one obvious example, if a farmer has not a DDS generated, they will not be able to generate a Movement Compliance Certificate on AIMS and movements via a mart will also be blocked because mart systems are linked via AIMS. This is going to cause mayhem in the spring and autumn when calves and weanling sales are in full flow”, said Mr. O’Connell.

What is particularly irritating, according to Mr. O Connell, is the fact that all the information is already available to the Department.   

“They already have all the information they are looking for; it’s there within their systems at the touch of a few buttons. Since 1994, the Department know exactly via satellite imaging the state of each acre of ground in Ireland and what’s happening on it. But they couldn’t – or wouldn’t – tell us how many acres of land will be affected by this ruling.  It is our belief that Department should immediately reconsider the roll-out of DDS for EUDR, that the responsibility be taken off farmers and the Department generate DDS on behalf of farmers on a yearly basis.  As part of that transfer of responsibility back to the Department, we also want the Department to indicate what happens to livestock coming off land that may have been deforested. There will also need to be an appeals system for farmers who believe in good faith that their lands may not have been deforested but might have had dense scrub or vegetation which may be mistaken for forestry on BISS maps”, he continued, noting that these were not remote or obscure points, but basic requirements of any official proposal.

“We have close to a year before this legislation comes into place, but we need to act on it immediately to ensure that a very significantly simplified system is put into place.  By way of comparison and context on the question of deforestation, from 2001 to 2020, 44m hectares of land was deforested in Brazil – the equivalent of 7.5 times the land base of Ireland and no less than 10 times the amount of farmable land in Ireland.  How does that level of deforestation square with the Commission’s ongoing and increasingly enthusiastic endorsement of the Mercosur negotiations that would allow 99,000 tons to crash its way into Europe at the expense of European farmers?  It might get worse; if the Trump administration can enforce the potential 50% tariff on Brazilian produce, it will increase the pressure on the negotiations to allow more beef into the EU.   At a time when our farmers need protection and ‘declutter’ of the issues around farm bureaucracy, we have the Department getting ready to foist another head-wrecking system onto our farmers to submit information already in the Department’s records for nearly 30 years. The Department should acknowledge that they already have the information within their systems and signal that they will assume responsibility for farmer compliance with EUDR as and from July 1, 2026. The Minister needs to stop this madness immediately”, concluded the ICMSA Livestock Committee Chairperson.    

Ends     15 July 2025

Michael O’Connell, 086-8551015

Chairperson, ICMSA Livestock Committee

Or

Cathal MacCarthy, 087-6168758

ICMSA Press office