EU insists in good sanitary standards for Mercosur produce, if a deal is to be reached

Thursday, April 26th 2018 - 09:18 UTC

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“No deal on Mercosur unless we are satisfied there will be good standards and that we will have a good sanitary and phytosanitary agreement,” said Hogan

European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan insisted there would be “no deal” with Mercosur unless negotiators are fully satisfied strong standards will apply to all produce. It comes as another round of the negotiations on Mercosur got under way in Brussels this week.

“There will be no deal on Mercosur unless we are satisfied there will be good standards and that we will have a good sanitary and phytosanitary agreement,” said Hogan, adding they needed to see “movement” on many of the demands made in recent negotiations with the South American bloc.

“There is no evidence that Brazil are serious about doing a deal at the moment because they are in election mode. So the ball is in their court.”

He pointed out anyone who does a deal on a free-trade agreement with the European Union has to observe EU standards as negotiations continued in Brussels this week.

It comes as the European Commission confirmed that Member States had voted in favor of delisting 20 Brazilian meat and poultry plants from the list of suppliers.

Mr Hogan said the delisting of the 20 establishments “clearly shows” the controls and traceability systems that the EU has in place are working.

The IFA's Angus Woods said the decision to delist the 20 plants backed up calls to reject any increase in meat imports from Brazil under Mercosur. He said the Commission is going “too easy” on Brazil.

“The only thing we have seen from Commissioner Malmström in these negotiations is giveaway after giveaway of the European meat sector, with little or nothing in return. The commissioner has already capitulated to the Brazilians in these negotiations, moving from an offer of 45,000t to 70,000t and now the Brazilians are looking for way more,” said Mr Woods.

Categories: Economy, Politics, International, Mercosur.

Tags: Brussels, European Agriculture Commissioner, European Union, Mercosur, Mercosur/EU talks, sanitary standards, traceability.

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The Voice
I have always thought that Nostrils and Twinkle were completely insanitary.
Apr 26th, 2018 - 03:52 pm 0
darragh
The EU is unable to enforce 'sanitary standards' on it's own member countries (particularly Eastern Europe and Greece) so I don't see how it's going to be able to enforce them in SA.
Apr 27th, 2018 - 11:07 am 0
Conqueror
The EU actually believes its own hype about being the strongest trading bloc. What it means by that is that it thinks it can bully anyone. Now, I don't really mind it bullying Mercosur. But what gets me is this particular point as raised by an Irish european. “Sanitary” and “phytosanitary” he says. But if the French got some snails with their lettuce they'd be delighted. Same goes for bits of amphibians. Germans would probably be okay if decomposition and fermentation was already underway. Both the French and Italians would be happy if there was already mould on cheese. Ditto the iffy milk that they call yoghurt. of course, he might be a bit concerned about various parts of Irish farming, but it's unlikely. He's a true yellow europhile now. Has to be to get the job he's got. He's quids in. Nice cushy job and he doesn't have to go short when Irish agriculture collapses. As it will. Starting about 11 months from now.
Apr 27th, 2018 - 05:38 pm 0

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