Brussels, 10/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - While Europeans and Latin Americans are this month due to exchange their offers on market access, Argentina is allowing doubts to grow over the level of its ambition.
Brazil and Uruguay are reportedly preparing to go ahead with the two-speed negotiation as part of the trade talks between the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, in the process of accession) while Argentina's tariff proposal is not as ambitious as that of the other members of the South American trading bloc, states Latin American MercoPress on 10 February, quoting Uruguayan diplomatic sources. Not only is the Argentine proposal for reducing duties reportedly more conservative, but Buenos Aires also doubts that the EU will address the issue of agricultural subsidies effectively.
The Mercosur countries are due to meet at ministerial level in Caracas this week in order to bring their position closer together on their proposal of a tariff liberalisation offer for agricultural and industrial products - an offer which they are due to exchange with the EU in February, ten years after the failure of their first attempt in 2004. At the last ministerial meeting between the two blocs in January 2013, this new exchange was initially scheduled for 1 October 2013.
On the South American side, observers note that Brazil and Uruguay are reportedly in a hurry to reach an agreement with the EU in order to compensate for the loss of Community tariff preferences with the opening of the GSP that was revised in early 2014. Only Paraguay still enjoys trade preferences from the EU under this regime, due to the GSP+. Venezuela will not take part in the negotiations because its Mercosur accession negotiations are not totally finished.
Argentina is also affected by the loss of these preferences but is rather engaged in a process of withdrawal and shows less interest in tying up an agreement with the EU. “The EU's policy on subsidies to farmers could lead to a difficult situation to resolve, as one of the objectives of Mercosur is to open the agricultural markets that remain closed to most of our agricultural products, and the Europeans enjoy a much higher level of protectionism than is acceptable to us”, said Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timmerman last week, quoted by MercoPress. Timmerman says he is “concerned by the EU's delay in finalising its proposed offer and by the comments from several European countries as regards the protectionism that they practise on their domestic markets - particularly agriculture”. (EH/transl.fl)