The Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said he does not expect a resolution of the Mercosur issue at this week's meeting of EU leaders, which has just got underway in Brussels.
He told reporters: "There's no sense that there will be a resolution to that this week. At the moment, I don't see a prospect of that. But one never knows - there could be further negotiations before this week is up."
France and Italy have raised objections to the terms of the EU Mercosur trade agreement, which is due to be ratified by both parties in Brazil on Saturday.
France wants the vote at EU member state level to be paused until January. Last night the European Parliament, member states and the European Commission approved a supplementary text that would reimpose tariffs if South American poultry and beef imports destabilized European markets.
Mr Martin said the safeguards for farmers in the trade deal had been strengthened over the past 12 months. However, Ireland would continue to have discussions with "like-minded countries" before deciding whether or not to support the deal.
"European member states are entitled to discuss this and press for the strongest possible safeguards in respect to food and to make sure that European farmers are not at a disadvantage," he said.
"There's been a significant change in terms of the level of the safeguards and the status of those safeguards, in the context of it being a legal instrument that the commission has agreed to.
"The Italian government, the French government, the Irish government [and] others have pushed for that, and that has happened. So it's a different situation to the one we had last year. It's a much stronger agreement from a safeguard perspective than it originally was."
The Taoiseach said Ireland’s position did not depend on whether or not France pushed for a vote on the deal to be delayed.
"Negotiations are ongoing, so we're going to continue to be part of those discussions. Safeguards have been achieved…and the Commission has been responsive to a lot of the issues that have been raised in respect of safeguards."
The Taoiseach said Ireland still had concerns about animal health and food safety standards when it came to Latin American exports under the Mercosur deal.
However, he said that Ireland had a "very robust agricultural industry."
He told reporters: "We export up to €20 billion now, and our beef exports and our dairy exports and others are growing. In terms of grain and so on, whiskey exports are also expanding, so we have a lot of sectors. Trade has been very good for Ireland."
Not sealing EU-Mercosur deal would be 'frustrating'
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said today an EU failure to seal a landmark trade deal with South America's Mercosur this week would be "very frustrating" as France and Italy pushed for a delay.
The Mercosur deal was needed "so that Europe gains geoeconomic and geopolitical weight at a time when it is being challenged" by Russia and the United States, Sanchez told reporters in Brussels before a summit of EU leaders.
"I think it would be very frustrating if Europe didn't reach an agreement with Mercosur," after the European Parliament approved extra safeguards for agriculture, Sanchez added.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva warned on Wednesday that it was now or never to get the deal over the line.
The pact, backed by Germany, Spain and the Nordic countries, would allow the EU to export more vehicles, machinery, wines and spirits to the bloc comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
In return, the Mercosur countries could export more South American beef, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans into Europe.
France's president warned that Paris would not support the EU's trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur without stronger safeguards for its farmers, as leaders gathered for summit talks in Brussels.
"I want to tell our farmers, who have been making France's position clear all along: we consider that we are not there yet, and the deal cannot be signed" as it currently stands, President Emmanuel Macron told reporters, vowing France would oppose any "attempt to force this through".
Additional reporting by AFP
