The French delegation in the EPP Group in the European Parliament called on the European Commission on Wednesday 24 May to protect sensitive agricultural sectors, in particular the beef sector, in negotiations taking place between the EU and Mercosur on a free-trade agreement.
French MEPs Renaud Muselier, Tokia Saïfi, Michel Dantin and Franck Proust felt that the Commission’s answer, dated 15 May, to their written question of 27 March in the immediate aftermath of the tainted meat scandal in Brazil was “unsatisfactory”.
“We support ambitious, balanced trade agreements being struck with third countries but we make it plain that agriculture is not a bargaining chip and that food safety for consumers is not negotiable. No mention is made in the Commission’s answer of any guarantee of compliance with EU health and plant protection standards or of the differing levels of competitiveness and production standards between the EU and the Mercosur countries”, they complain.
“We must protect our sensitive agricultural sectors – principally beef – and bear in mind the goal of gaining access to foreign markets which offer real prospects of growth for the EU’s export competitive agricultural sectors”, they add, noting that the European Parliament will have it say on the EU-Mercosur trade deal and has a right of veto.
In his response to the concerns of the French EPP MEPs, Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan pointed out that the study conducted by the Joint Research Centre on cumulative effects of concluded and ongoing free-trade agreement negotiations on the EU agricultural sector “identified a number of sectors … where a potential adverse effect should be taken into account”.
The study also found that the beef sector should be considered as sensitive within the framework of the EU-Mercosur negotiations, “meaning that beef cannot be fully liberalised, and concessions would be subject to an appropriate quantitative limit”.
Lastly, an assurance was given that the fraud uncovered by Brazilian authorities in a number of meat processing establishments in Brazil is “being addressed by appropriate means” by the Commission.
A major food safety scandal erupted in Brazil on 17 March when a vast network, involving health service inspectors and major companies in the sector, marketing tainted meats was dismantled (see EUROPE 11751).
Negotiations on the commercial chapter an EU-Mercosur association agreement resumed in May 2016 and progress was made in the second round of talks in Buenos Aires at the end of March. The next round is scheduled to take place in Brussels at the start of July. On 20 April. Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra stated their commitment to concluding an agreement by the end of this year. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)