European Parliament proposes tightening trade restrictions with Mercosur

The European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) has adopted a position on mechanisms to protect the EU agricultural market within the framework of the trade agreement with the Mercosur countries.

This concerns the possibility of temporarily suspending tariff preferences for imports of agricultural products from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay in the event of harm to European producers, the European Parliament’s press service reports.

The committee approved the relevant draft regulation with 27 votes in favor, 8 against and 7 abstentions. The document sets out clear conditions for the application of safeguard measures on imports of agricultural products from Mercosur.

In particular, the deputies propose to lower the threshold for initiating an investigation into the introduction of safeguard measures. If imports of sensitive agricultural products, such as poultry or beef, increase by 5% on average over three years, the European Commission should initiate an appropriate review. Initially, the European Commission’s proposal referred to an increase of 10% per year.

MEPs also insist on reducing the investigation periods: from six to three months in general and from four to two months for sensitive agricultural products. This should allow for the introduction of protective measures more quickly. In addition, the committee supported an amendment that provides for the possibility of applying the principle of reciprocity – an obligation for Mercosur countries to comply with EU production standards.

The European Parliament’s standing rapporteur on Mercosur, Gabriel Mato, noted that the adopted compromise significantly strengthens the mechanism for protecting European farmers and provides a more reliable model for implementing the regulation. According to him, the document also takes into account the key reservations of the Agriculture Committee, which allowed for broad support among deputies.

Bernd Lange, Chairman of the Committee on International Trade, stressed that the EU is demonstrating its readiness to protect its own producers in the event of a negative impact of the agreement with Mercosur. He stressed that while the trade agreement itself already contains limited quotas for sensitive goods, the adopted changes provide for stricter market monitoring and a lower threshold for launching investigations.

The European Parliament plenary session is due to approve the negotiating mandate on 15-18 December. This will then lead to interinstitutional negotiations with EU governments on the final text of the legislation.

Tags: Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, EU, Argentina