European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan made it plain on Wednesday 25 April that the EU would not conclude an agreement with the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) unless it is satisfied with the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards that will apply to all products.
“There will be no deal on Mercosur unless we are satisfied there will be good standards and that we will have a good sanitary and phytosanitary agreement”, Hogan warned, stating that any country or region that makes a trade deal with the EU must comply with European standards.
He pointed out that the EU’s removal on 19 April of 20 Brazilian companies from the list of businesses authorised to export meat to the European Union (see EUROPE 12006) “clearly shows” the controls and traceability systems that the EU has in place are working.
The commissioner also said that the EU needed to see “movement” by Mercosur on many of the demands made in recent negotiations.
“There is no evidence that Brazil are serious about doing a deal at the moment because they are in election mode. So, the ball is in their court”, he added.
The team of Mercosur negotiators has been in Brussels since Tuesday and will remain until Thursday to try to iron out the differences between the two regions. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)