At a conference in Brussels on Thursday 10 February, the Agriculture Ministers of France, Spain and Austria put up a united front on the reciprocity of agricultural production standards in trade policy.
At a round table organised by the National Interprofessional Livestock and Meat Association, (INTERBEV) in France, ministers Julien Denormandie, Luis Planas and Elisabeth Köstinger called for reciprocal measures in international trade.
Among the topics discussed at the event were: - the adoption of the delegated act to apply the EU ban on the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in animal husbandry to third country producers; - the tightening of due diligence rules for beef under the regulation on the import of commodities linked to deforestation to require the tracing of animals from birth to slaughter; - the systematic inclusion of ‘mirror clauses’ in the conditionality of trade agreements.
Julien Denormandie confirmed that the Agriculture Council of the EU will try to adopt conclusions on reciprocity in March (see EUROPE 12887/5). The European Commission should, he said, submit in March “a preliminary report on how trade policies should be a public policy element to achieve the objectives of the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy”. The French minister wants to “create a bridge” between the new regulation on pesticides and the maximum residue levels (MRLs).
Luis Planas defended the search for a European consensus on the application of ‘mirror clauses’ in trade relations. He admitted that a political consensus inside the EU was needed first, and then persuasive work within the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“In order to ensure greater fairness in international trade in agricultural products, we need to get our trading partners to accept comparable standards, including production standards”, said Elisabeth Köstinger. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)