Thanks to recent positive developments, such as the suspension of US tariffs in the Airbus/Boeing dispute, the EU and the US “can now focus on strengthening the bilateral cooperation on agriculture”, said the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, on Monday 19 July.
“We will direct attention on areas of common ground, such as: sustainable agriculture, organics, and more”, the Commissioner added.
On Monday, at a working lunch, US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack discussed EU-US trade relations with the Commissioner and EU Agriculture Ministers.
Slovenian Minister of Agriculture Jože Podgoršek said that the ministers had discussed the development of food systems and adaptation to climate change with Mr Vilsack. He confirmed that the subject of the effects of the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy was raised in this exchange with Tom Vilsack.
Janusz Wojciechowski underlined to the press that the Commission would make public the Joint Research Centre’s study on the effects of the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy on European agricultural production, but he would not give dates and said that a more in-depth analysis would have to be made after the agreement on the reformed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
A more stable bilateral framework. Janusz Wojciechowski said he was “confident” that EU agricultural producers “can now build upon a more stable bilateral framework to promote their products, given the historic success of our products in the US market and the strong appreciation of US consumers for EU quality food”.
Trade agreements. The Commissioner also said that trade negotiations were continuing with Chile, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. “We hope to make good progress in all these negotiations this year”, the Commission said.
Chile would like to conclude the talks this year, but the Commission favours substance over speed.
In the last round of negotiations with New Zealand, new offers on market access were exchanged, “ which helped to break the deadlock in many contentious areas”, the Commissioner stressed.
New Zealand has reportedly indicated its desire to conclude the talks by the end of the year.
In agriculture, parameters should be set for the most sensitive EU products, such as beef, butter, cheese and milk powder, says an EU source. “For these products, we are determined to keep concessions to a minimum”, the source said.
New Zealand has remained constructive in the discussions on the annex on wines and spirits and geographical indications, but negotiators still need to find solutions for some problematic terms. The 12th round of EU/New Zealand negotiations is not yet scheduled. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)