French President Emmanuel Macron and three other national leaders warned the European Commission that a trade deal with trade bloc Mercosur could ultimately destabilize production and the agricultural sector.
Brazil's Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes said he expects more movement from the European Union as long running talks on a free trade deal with his South American bloc Mercosur head into the home stretch.
Irish Farmers National Livestock Chairman Angus Woods has said the break in Mercosur talks until Friday is an opportunity for Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan to face down the Trade Commissioner and force a rethink on the sell-out of beef farmers.
A long-awaited major trade deal between the EU and Mercosur may this week take a key step towards realization with ministerial teams from both sides meeting in Brussels on Monday. They are expected to give negotiators a new, decisive political impulse to reach agreement in a matter of weeks, according to Irish sources.
The European Union’s farm chief pressed Mercosur countries to offer market access for EU wines, spirits, olive oil and dairy goods to help seal a free-trade agreement that has been in the works for two decades.
Beef will be back on the menu this October as the European Union seeks to finalise a trade deal with Mercosur. The European Commission will offer Mercosur new beef import quotas at reduced tariff rates during a formal round of trade talks in the first week of October in Brussels, EU sources confirmed.
As the United Kingdom begins contacts to negotiate new trade deals as it leaves the EU in 2019, food will be one of many areas that will need to be addressed. The ongoing spat over chlorine chicken highlights how tastes and safety practices around the world can differ hugely, since what might seem normal practice in one country can seem problematic elsewhere.
First vice-president of the European Union Parliament Irish lawmaker Mairead McGuinness has asked EU Commissioners for agriculture and trade for clarity on allegations that Brazil has sold meat that is unfit for consumption.
If beef is not included, there won't be any agreement, said Uruguay's foreign minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa in anticipation of next week's meeting of European Union and Mercosur coordinators to adjust the list of goods and services the two blocks will formally exchange in mid October, the first formal meeting of its kind in fourteen years.
Following a meeting to discuss common concerns, the British Isles' farming unions – NFU Scotland, the English NFU, NFU Cymru, the Ulster Farmers Union and the Irish Farmers Association – issued a joint statement warning buyers that the downward pressure on farm-gate prices was “sapping confidence” out of the sector.