The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association has warned that 10,000 jobs could be lost in Ireland if proposals to reform world trading rules for agriculture are adopted.
World Trade Organisation negotiations on global agricultural trade get underway next week in Cancun, Mexico.
The ICMSA has also suggested that over €1 billion could be wiped off Irish farming output - with both the volume and value of food exports being slashed.
The ICMSA president, Pat O'Rourke, said the threats posed by the WTO proposals are not fully appreciated by all Government Ministers, or the Trade Unions whose members' jobs are most definitely threatened.
He said the consequences for the 140,000 farm families is that their incomes could be further cut as farm prices fall towards world prices.
Mr O'Rourke said the WTO negotiations pose an unprecedented and major threat to the income of all involved in the Irish agri-food sector.
He said the ICMSA is concerned that Ireland's trading interests are taking second place to our responsibilities to the developing economies.
He said the Irish economy will lose by allowing greater market access to the European Union and curtailing, if not effectively abolishing, export subsidies.
The ICMSA wants a balance struck without Ireland, and specifically the farming and food sector in Ireland, paying an enormous and disproportionate cost.
Mr O'Rourke said one of the key points contained in the ICMSA submission to Government is that there must be no further reduction in import tariffs.
If this were to happen, he said, EU support prices would be undermined and prices would fall towards world prices. This is particularly the case for butter.
The impact would not alone be felt by farmers but the whole economy, as our terms of trade worsen.
He said that despite recent diversification, Ireland still exports 30% of dairy products and 20% of beef output to third world countries with the support of export refunds. These funds bridge the gap between EU prices and world prices.
These exports will not take place if export refunds are eliminated.
Ireland stands to lose almost €200 million per year on this proposal alone and is more exposed than any other member state in the EU.
Finally, Mr O'Rourke said that the level of EU market access given to non-EU countries must not be increased.
