On Wednesday, Parliament and Council negotiators informally agreed on measures to protect EU agriculture once the EU-Mercosur trade and partnership agreements are in place.
The draft regulation sets out how, in the context of the Mercosur trade agreement, the European Commission could decide to temporarily suspend tariff preferences on the import of certain agricultural products considered sensitive (such as poultry or beef) from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay if these imports are seen to be harming EU producers.
“Today, we send a clear message: we can move forward with the Mercosur agreement without leaving our farmers unprotected. We have agreed on a robust, swift and legally sound safeguard mechanism that allows us to respond in a timely manner to market disruptions and provides the certainty the sector has long been calling for,” stated rapporteur Gabriel Mato (EPP, ES).
The most critical measure agreed is that an increase in import volume of more than 8% compared to the three-year average would be evidence of serious injury and trigger an investigation into suspending preferential tariffs. A decrease in prices of more than 8% relative to the three-year average would also be treated as a serious injury and would give reason to start an investigation.
Bernd Lange (S&D, DE), Chair of the International Trade committee, also said: “We have done our utmost for our agricultural sector. They can rest assured that any potential disruption to our market will be detected in good time and dealt with. Now that everyone understands how this additional safety net will work, the way is clear for the approval of the much-needed EU-Mercosur trade agreement.”
The Commission may extend the scope of its monitoring to non-sensitive products, upon request by the EU industry. The Commission will continuously and proactively monitor imports of sensitive products, produce a monitoring report at least every 6 months that assesses the impact of those imports, and report to Parliament and the Council.
The exchange of data between member states and the Commission will be improved. The European Commission will ensure greater alignment of production standards applied to imported products, notably on animal welfare and pesticides from Mercosur countries. The provisional agreement will need formal adoption by both the Council and the Parliament before it can enter into force.
