Irish farmers have claimed they will lose over €2 billion a year in food exports if agriculture is "sacrificed" by the European Commission to achieve agreement in the world trade talks.

As a final attempt to rescue the global trade talks began in Potsdam, Germany yesterday, the Irish Farmers' Association lobbied in Brussels against allowing Brazilian beef imports into the Union.

Its president, Pádraig Walshe, said it had found evidence of illegal use of hormones and found a total lack of traceability when it sent a mission to Brazil recently.

But the head of Brazil's Beef Export Industry Association,Marcus Vinicius Pratini de Moraes, accused the IFA of making "false and misrepresenting" claims about Brazil's beef exports.

Mr Walshe said the EU Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, was prepared to sell out the EU and Irish farmers to achieve a world trade agreement.

He claimed that the Irish beef industry was Mr Mandelson's principal bargaining chip in the talks, which he would sell out to Brazil for a deal on industry and services.

Mr Walshe, who lobbied the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, last week on the potential dangers to Irish agriculture in the talks, travelled from Brussels to Potsdam to lobby officials there yesterday.

Irish Cattle and Sheepfarmers' Association president Malcolm Thompson said he feared the EU would weaken its stance on genetically modified crops to seek agreement in the talks.