Visiting Brussels on Wednesday 25 January, Brazil's Agriculture Minister Blairo Borges Maggi listened to the concerns of European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan about the delays in Brazil's sanitary and phytosanitary authorisation for EU beef.
Both parties had an "open and frank" discussion on EU and Brazilian agriculture, and in particular on beef, including on consumption trends in the EU, Brazil's expectations on EU market access, and the new system of traceability in Brazil, a Commission source close to the issue told EUROPE.
In this context, Hogan set out his concerns regarding the delays in sanitary and phytosanitary authorisation in Brazil, saying that the EU should be treated as a single entity.
Before being able to export products of animal origin to Brazil – meat, dairy products and fish-based products – European producers have to ask for each label to be registered in the appropriate department of the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture. The Commission is critical of the Brazilian administration for its delays in approving these labels.
As regards the EU-Mercosur free trade negotiations, Hogan reiterated the EU's defensive position on beef to the Brazilian party (Ed: beef is excluded from the EU's initial offer). Hogan also said that progress on geographical indications and wine would be essential for the EU's approval, according to EUROPE's source.
The negotiations for a free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) are on track since the exchange of offers on market access (covering goods, services and public procurement) on 11 May 2016 (see EUROPE 11549). After an initial round of technical level talks in Brussels in October 2016 (see EUROPE 11647), a second round is planned for Buenos Aires in March. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)