The European Commission will be presenting in the next weeks a report on the consequences for the European agriculture of a trade agreement with Mercosur, announced EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos following a Thursday meeting of the Agriculture Council in Luxembourg.
European Union’s top trade negotiator, Karel de Gucht, accused Argentina of being “the great obstacle” in an association agreement between the EU and Mercosur, and threatened to take the case before the WTO.
The European Union and Mercosur currently holding a round of association and trade talks will be exchanging proposals for market access of their list of products in the coming two months, according to the EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.
The Eurogroup for Animals called on the European Union to demand from Mercosur farmers associations and governments the same ‘animal well-being’ requisites and regulations which their European counterparts must comply with.
Several European Union objections to the current functioning of Mercosur have surfaced in documents relative to the ongoing trade negotiations round which is scheduled to have another chapter early May in Asunción, Paraguay.
European Union Agriculture ministers will be meeting this week in Luxembourg to discuss the current trade negotiations with Mercosur, according to European Commission sources.
Argentina’s hurdles to imports don’t help European Union /Mercosur trade negotiations and generate “uncertainty” warned the EU head of delegation in Argentina Alfonso Diez Torres. He also criticized the “one to one” Argentine policy that forces the local assembly plants to match every import-dollar with export dollars.
The Ulster Farmers’ Union has raised concerns over the current trade deal being discussed between the European Union and Mercosur. UFU beef and lamb chairman Ray Elkin said: “The potential for a Mercosur trade deal is of great concern to the UFU, and could have a devastating impact on Northern Ireland’s beef sector in particular.”
The European Union and Mercosur have a clear commitment to advance trade negotiations and conclude a deal, if possible, by the end of the year, if not at the beginning of next year when Argentina will again hold the rotating chair of the South American group.
Uruguay’s Vice-president Danilo Astori said that Mercosur “unfulfilled agenda” will not affect the chances of reaching an agreement with the European Union which if finally achieved will also help the “block to work better”.