Finland will propose a ban on Brazilian beef imports to protest over Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro's response to massive Amazon fires, the country's finance minister said on Friday.

French President Emmanuel Macron is leading international pressure on Bolsonaro over the Amazon rainforest fires, threatening to block a major trade deal with the EU.

Finland's Finance Minister Mika Lintila condemned the destruction of rainforests and proposed "the EU and Finland urgently look into the option of banning the import of Brazilian beef".

Finland currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Council.

"Now we need effective action from the EU... I am ready to raise the issue with my EU Finance Minister colleagues who will be coming to Helsinki in September, if there is no progress before then," Lintila said.

The fires in the world's largest rainforest have sparked protests around the planet and ignited a war of words between Bolsonaro and Macron, who has described the wildfires as an "international crisis". </s> The European Union piled pressure on Friday on Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro over fires raging in the Amazon basin, with Ireland and France saying they could block a trade deal and Finland urging a ban on Brazilian beef imports.

Bolsonaro has rejected what he calls foreign interference in domestic affairs in Brazil, where vast tracts of the Amazon rainforest are ablaze in what is known as the burning season.

Environmentalists have blamed deforestation for an increase in fires and accuse the right-wing president of relaxing protection of a vast carbon trap and climate driver that is crucial to combating global climate change.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Bolsonaro had been lying when he played down concerns about climate change at the G20 summit in Japan in June and that, in this light, France would oppose the farming deal struck between the EU and the Mercosur countries: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Dublin would vote against the free trade deal unless Brazil acted to protect the rainforest.

Varadkar said he was very concerned at the record levels of rainforest destruction, and that the Irish government would closely monitor Brazil’s environmental actions in the two years until the Mercosur deal was ratified.

“There is no way that Ireland will vote for the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement if Brazil does not honour its environmental commitments,” he said in a statement.

Ireland would need other EU states to help form a blocking minority if it wants to kill the deal, reached in June after 20 years of negotiations.

But the Irish government is under pressure to defend its beef farmers, already suffering from Britain’s looming EU exit and low prices, by seeking to ensure Mercosur countries do not flood the market with cheaper beef.

Finland, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, suggested a ban on Brazilian beef imports.

Prime Minister Antti Rinne said the fires were “a threat to our whole planet, not just to Brazil or South America”.

“We must find out whether the Europeans have something to offer Brazil to help prevent this kind of fires in the future,” he added.

Leaders of the world’s most advanced economies are also expected to discuss the matter when they meet for the G7 summit in France this weekend.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said he would use the gathering to call for international action to protect the world’s rainforests. </s> Finland and the European Union are considering a ban on the import of Brazilian beef, citing the Latin American country's failed environmental policies, amid record wildfires in the Amazon rainforest, the Finnish government said in a statement on Friday

HELSINKI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd August, 2019) Finland and the European Union are considering a ban on the import of Brazilian beef, citing the Latin American country's failed environmental policies, amid record wildfires in the Amazon rainforest, the Finnish government said in a statement on Friday.

"Finance Minister Mika Lintila condemns the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and informs that the European Union and Finland are considering a ban on the import of Brazilian beef," the statement read.

According to the statement, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Prime Minister Antti Rinne, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and other members of the government have also raised concerns over the situation in Brazil.

Finland is currently chairing the European Union.

Lintila noted that the discussion of the issue would be launched in September if there was no progress by that time.

Serious wildfires have been making their way through the Amazon for three weeks now. According to satellite data provided by the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research, there has been an over 80 percent increase in the number of wildfires between this year and last year, which is an unprecedented rate.

The situation is blamed on the right-wing policies led by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who encouraged deforestation by loggers and farmers.

French President Emmanuel Macron urged the G7 leaders to discuss the issue at the upcoming summit in the French resort city of Biarritz from August 24-26. </s> DUBLIN/BRUSSELS, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The European Union piled pressure on Friday on Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro over fires raging in the Amazon basin, with Ireland and France saying they could block a trade deal with South America.

Bolsonaro has rejected what he calls foreign interference in domestic affairs in Brazil, where vast tracts of the Amazon rainforest are ablaze in what is known as the burning season. He said the army could be sent to help fight the fires.

French President Emmanuel Macron's office said Bolsonaro had lied in playing down concerns about climate change at the G20 summit in Japan in June and that, in this light, France would oppose the deal struck between the EU and the Mercosur countries: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Dublin would vote against the deal unless Brazil acted to protect the rainforest.

Varadkar said he was very concerned at the record levels of rainforest destruction, and that the Irish government would closely monitor Brazil's environmental actions in the two years until the Mercosur deal was ratified.

"There is no way that Ireland will vote for the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement if Brazil does not honour its environmental commitments," he said in a statement.

Ireland and France would need other EU states to help form a blocking minority if they want to kill the deal, reached in June after 20 years of negotiations.

The Irish government is under pressure to defend its beef farmers, already suffering from Britain's looming EU exit and low prices, by seeking to ensure Mercosur countries do not flood the market with cheaper beef.

But the EU executive, the European Commission, warned against burying the deal, saying it could help to put pressure on Brazil.

"This is the best way to create legally binding commitments with countries that we want to respect our environmental standards," said Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva. "The best tool that we have is the EU-Mercosur agreement."

She noted that the text included punitive mechanisms to be used if certain climate-related conditions were not met.

Finland, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, suggested a ban on Brazilian beef imports. Prime Minister Antti Rinne said the fires were "a threat to our whole planet, not just to Brazil or South America".

"We must find out whether the Europeans have something to offer Brazil to help prevent this kind of fires in the future," he added.

Finland's finance minister said he would raise the issue with his EU peers at a meeting in Helsinki on Sept. 13-14.

Leaders of the world's most advanced economies are also expected to discuss the matter when they meet for the G7 summit in France this weekend. </s> Mikko Kärnä (Centre), a second-term Member of the Finnish Parliament from Lapland, on Friday demanded that the European Union ban the imports of soy and meat from Brazil. The ban, he said, is warranted because the slash-and-burn agriculture practised in the country’s rainforests is posing a threat to the future of the entire mankind.

“While the European Union and other countries are combating climate change, rainforests are being ruthlessly burned to make way for soy farming and livestock rearing in Brazil,” he said.

“Everyone who uses products directly or indirectly reliant on Brazilian soy is destroying the climate. We must have the courage to impose a boycott on all Brazilian meats and soy products until this reckless behaviour in the rainforests has come to an end. In Finland, [Kesko] S Group and Lidl should remove all such products from their shelves immediately.”

The UN, he added, should discuss the situation and agree on sanctions to compel Brazil to comply with the Paris Agreement.

“Brazilian President Jari [sic] Bolsanaro’s [sic] statements surrounding the catastrophe are inexplicable and the man seems to be so crooked that he has to screw a knit cap on his head. We’re not dealing with ‘an environmental psychosis’ but with an emergency affecting the entire humanity,” underlined Kärnä. </s> HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland, which holds the European Union’s rotating chairmanship, called on Friday for the EU to look into the possibility of banning Brazilian beef from its markets due to devastation caused by fires in the Amazon rainforest.

“Finance Minister Mika Lintila condemns the destruction of Amazon rainforests and suggests that the EU and Finland should urgently review the possibility of banning Brazilian beef imports,” Finland’s finance ministry said in a statement. </s> BIARRITZ, France (AFP) — The G7 will give US$20 million (18 million euros) to send firefighting planes to tackle the blazes engulfing parts of the Amazon, the presidents of France and Chile said yesterday.

“We must respond to the call of the forest which is burning today in the Amazon,” France's Emmanuel Macron said as President Sebastian Pinera of Chile, a guest of the G7, underlined that, “countries of the Amazon are in dire need of fire brigades and water bomber planes.”

Nearly 80,000 forest fires have been detected in Brazil since the beginning of the year — just over half of them in the massive Amazon basin.

The pledges came as data showed that hundreds of new fires have flared up in the Amazon, even as military aircraft dumped water over hard-hit areas.

Macron had declared the situation an “international crisis” and made it a priority of the summit of the G7, which comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States.

G7 leaders gathered in Biarritz held talks on the many environmental challenges facing planet Earth, with a focus on the record number of fires destroying swathes of the Amazon.

Macron has threatened to block a huge new trade deal between the European Union and Latin America unless Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a climate change sceptic, takes serious steps to protect the fast-shrinking forest from logging and mining.

Bolsonaro lashed out at the French leader over his criticism and suggested NGOs could be setting the fires to embarrass him — without giving any evidence to back the claim.

But at the weekend, he finally caved in to international pressure to save a region crucial for maintaining a stable global climate, deploying two aircraft to douse fires and authorising the army to help tackle the blazes.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his country would send a water bomber plane to fight the Amazon blazes and contribute some US$15 million to the effort.

The G7 also agreed to support a reforestation plan to be unveiled in September, the leaders said.

Brazil would have to agree to any reforestation plan, as would indigenous communities living in the world's biggest rainforest.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said new planting was needed “to preserve this universal heritage, which is absolutely essential for the well-being of the world's population”.

He said the issue would be discussed during the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

Macron said it was hoped “at least 30 million” dollars could be raised for the project.

Yesterday evening, the French leader met Brazilian indigenous chief Raoni Metuktire, who said he had asked Macron to “help us preserve our lands”.

“The forests and lands of Brazil help the entire planet live,” said the chief, an advocate for indigenous rights.

Greenpeace Executive Director Jennifer Morgan welcomed the G7 aid, but said the club must also “stop fuelling the destruction of the Amazon through the import of agricultural products associated with deforestation and soil degradation”. </s> On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that leaders of G7 countries agreed to help the countries of the Amazon basin to deal with forest fires that he described as a serious international crisis, while criticizing his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, for not following his obligations to combat climate change.

The Brazilian government has rejected an offer of aid by the G7 countries to deal with the Amazon fires , according to AFP.

"We appreciate [the offer], but maybe those resources are more relevant to reforest Europe," Onyx Lorenzoni, chief of staff to President Jair Bolsonaro, told the G1 news website, as cited by AFP.

On Monday, Macron announced that the G7 would "immediately send to the Amazon countries... financial support worth at least about 20 million euros."

The Amazon rainforest, which produces about 20 percent of the Earth's atmosphere's oxygen, is burning from wildfires at a record rate and has drawn international attention.

Environmental activists have been staging protests at Brazilian embassies worldwide and accusing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro of supporting farmers who are burning the rainforest to expand farming land.

On Saturday, the Brazilian authorities deployed troops in an attempt to fight the environmental disaster. </s> “Finance Minister Mika Lintila condemns the destruction of Amazon rainforests and suggests that the EU and Finland should urgently review the possibility of banning Brazilian beef imports,” Finland’s finance ministry said in a statement. (Reporting by Anne Kauranen)

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Finland, current chair of the European Union, writes to the body's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, urging the use of the EU's "full toolkit" including foreign and trade policy to counter the use of deliberate fires as a means of deforestation in Brazil.