Brussels, 19/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - Without debate on Monday the Agriculture Council adopted conclusions on veterinary and phytosanitary agreements, noting that various delegations (including the Spanish Presidency) believe that an agreement with Chile should serve as a reference point for the agreements to be signed with the Mercosur countries. The same delegations said that in the current negotiations and exploratory discussions with Mercosur countries over bilateral agreements, lessons should be learned from experience and weaknesses detected in the current agreements (particularly between the EU-US and EU-New Zealand agreements) to ensure the new agreements are effective and operational as soon as possible.
The Member States stressed the need to conclude the negotiations with Chile and sign an Association Agreement in the near future. They took note of the Commission's plan to closely involve national veterinary and phytosanitary authorities in the negotiations and the management of the agreement. The Council called on the Commission to rapidly settle issues still outstanding under current agreements and do all it can to ensure the EU-New Zealand comes into operation rapidly (there are problems with the authorisation of certificates that products meet requirements where the EU is calling for additional guarantees, Ed) and to ensure the obligations in terms of health status (problems with recognising the Community principle of regionalisation) on the United States under the signing of the agreement with the EU can be rapidly implemented. To step up cooperation between the EU and Russia in the run-up to the latter joining the WTO, the Council called on the Commission to launch discussions with the Russian authorities in order to sign veterinary and phytosanitary co-operation agreements.