At the Agriculture Council on Monday 30 March, Italy, supported notably by Spain, Bulgaria and Hungary, called for a tightening of the automatic safeguard mechanism within the revision of the European scheme of generalised tariff preferences (GSP).
In a note, Italy suggests: amending Article 29c of the regulation in order to better protect European agricultural sectors, particularly rice, but also undenatured ethyl alcohol and sugar; and rejecting the current principle of a ‘double increase’ in thresholds, which combines a rolling average over ten years with a 45% surge to trigger the automatic safeguard clause. The country is calling either for the 45% surge to be abolished or for the percentage to be drastically reduced, with a maximum ceiling of 20%.
Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen pointed out that rice is systematically considered a sensitive product in all EU trade negotiations. In his view, the automatic safeguard mechanism for rice reflects the difficult compromises between EU countries and institutions. Rice is the only agricultural sector to benefit from specific and unique protection under EBA (Everything but Arms).
For Luc Vernet, secretary general of Farm Europe, international trade remains essential, but it must “complement European production, not replace it”. In his view, importing raw materials produced under conditions that fail to respect either the social standards or the environmental requirements of the EU undermines the EU’s agricultural model.
Italy’s note: https://aeur.eu/f/let (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)