Mercosur

• Thursday, May 12th 2016 - 04:42 UTC

  EU and Mercosur exchanged market access offers; beef and ethanol excluded as 'sensitive' products

  

  Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and the Foreign Affairs Minister of Uruguay Rodolfo Nin Novoa, on Wednesday exchanged EU and Mercosur offers on access to their respective markets of goods, services and establishment and government procurement. However this first exchange excluded 'sensitive' items such as beef and ethanol, according to EU sources. The details of the documents exchanged were not made public.

• Wednesday, May 11th 2016 - 09:23 UTC

  Brussels assures EU farmers that beef is out of trade negotiations with Mercosur

  

  The European Union Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan, announced on Tuesday that beef will not be part of the current Mercosur trade deal negotiations. The news follows a meeting between the Commissioner and NFU Cymru, which was held on Glamorgan NFU Cymru Chairman, Abi Reader’s farm, in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.

• Tuesday, May 10th 2016 - 17:47 UTC

  Rousseff's impeachment process back on track: Senate votes on Wednesday

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment process and possible suspension from office is back on track after the acting speaker of the Lower House, Waldir Maranhao repented and withdrew his controversial decision to annul an April 17 impeachment vote.

• Saturday, May 7th 2016 - 08:29 UTC

  Falklands' MPA infrastructure to be upgraded with a £55.7 million contract

  

  A £55.7 million contract to upgrade infrastructure at MPA, in the Falkland Islands was signed this week between Southampton based Trant Engineering Ltd and the UK Defense Infrastructure Organization (DIO).

• Friday, May 6th 2016 - 07:27 UTC

  First UK trade mission in ten years begins contacts in Argentina

  

  British Trade and Investment Minister, Lord Price, leads the UK’s first trade mission to Argentina in ten years, which arrived in Buenos Aires on Thursday. The mission looks to strengthen trade and investment relations with the third largest economy of Latin America.

• Thursday, May 5th 2016 - 12:09 UTC

  European farmers march in Dublin to protest trade negotiations with Mercosur

  

  European farmers took to the streets of Dublin outside the EU Commission offices to highlight the potential “sellout” of the multi-billion-euro beef industry in trade talks with Mercosur. Concerns have been rising over discussions at EU level over the impact a deal with Mercosur would have on Ireland's €2.5bn beef industry, which depends on EU markets for over 90% of its exports.

• Wednesday, May 4th 2016 - 08:26 UTC

  Irish farmers will march against Mercosur deal at the EC offices in Dublin

  

  The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) is to protest on Wednesday May 4, in Dublin against the proposed Mercosur and TTIP trade deals. The protest will take place outside the offices of the European Commission in the Irish capital.

• Wednesday, April 27th 2016 - 05:32 UTC

  Russian ban on EU food imports turns European farmers' fury against Mercosur accord

  

  Brussels must do more to help producers ride out the slump in agricultural commodity prices, European farm leaders have warned. Immediate solutions were needed to tackle the “unprecedented” crisis that had hit agricultural markets, said European farm umbrella organization Copa-Cogeca.

• Monday, April 18th 2016 - 17:34 UTC

  Rousseff loses crucial impeachment vote; Senate decides as economic uncertainty worsens

  

  President Dilma Rousseff lost a crucial impeachment vote in Brazil’s lower house on Sunday evening, making her removal ever more likely and deepening the country’s political crisis. Rousseff’s opponents easily obtained the two-thirds majority of votes in the 513-member Chamber of Deputies needed to pass the impeachment measure.

• Monday, April 18th 2016 - 09:46 UTC

  Mercosur/EU trade deal is “no bed of roses” and “we're just beginning”

  

  Despite growing optimism among Mercosur member countries of reaching a trade agreement with the European Union, Argentine minister of foreign affairs Susana Malcorra has cautioned that the road ahead is not “a bed of roses”, and the coming exchange of goods and tariff reduction proposals “will not satisfy any of the two sides”, but that is where “serious discussions begin”.