MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

French supermarket chain to halt sales of Mercosur meat to boycott FTA

Mercosur meat might “flood the French market with meat that does not meet its requirements and standards,” Carrefour's CEO feared

Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard announced this week that his company would not be selling meat imported from the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) in a move to prevent the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union from pulling through. France's largest supermarket planned on suspending meat imports from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay “in solidarity with the agricultural sector.”

In a letter to French farmers' union leader Arnaud Rousseau, Bompard said he hoped to “inspire other players in the agri-food sector” as the European country rises as a stalwart against the commerce treaty between the two blocs whereas other European powers such as Germany advocate eliminating the need for consensus among members to move on with the initiative.

“Carrefour wants to act alongside the agricultural sector and today undertakes not to sell meat from Mercosur,” the letter assured. “We hope to inspire other actors in the agri-food sector and to encourage a broader solidarity movement,” it added.

He also launched a “special appeal to restaurant actors, who represent more than 30% of meat consumption in France - but where 60% is imported - to join this commitment...”

The French businessman said the free trade agreement posed a risk because it might “flood the French market with meat that does not meet its requirements and standards.”

In response, the Brazilian Agency for the Promotion of Exports and Investments (ApexBrasil) dubbed Bompard's actions and declarations as regrettable and recalled that Mercosur is one of the main world suppliers of meat.

“We believe that there are no reasonable grounds to impose restrictions on meat produced in Mercosur. We follow the most rigid sanitary and environmental standards, which guarantee its quality in all Brazilian protein sales operations abroad, a quality recognized by more than 160 countries, including the European Union,” ApexBrasil said in a statement.