As a deal looms by the end of the year, Poland’s agriculture ministry has published a statement where it registers reservations over the Mercosur agreement. It should please France which leads the opposition to the deal.
Poland’s agriculture ministry has registered reservations about the Mercosur agreement in a public statement suggesting the trade deal would imperil its agricultural sector and particularly poultry.
“The Ministry of Agriculture has serious reservations about the outcome of the European Commission’s negotiations with the Mercosur countries,” the ministry statement said.
Despite the deal having the potential to bring benefits to the industrial sector, maritime transport and some services, the impact on Poland’s meat industry and some other agricultural products could be problematic, the note added.
The Polish ministry of agriculture is particularly concerned that poultry imports under Mercosur will hit Polish farmers hard.
The deal between the EU and Latin American countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – aims to create a free trade zone between the two blocs by lifting trade barriers such as tariffs. Trade volumes are however being negotiated for sectors identified as sensitive for either party, including Poultry.
The agreement currently provides for 180,000 tonnes of imported poultry to be imported into the European market after six years of gradual entry into force of the agreement, according to the Polish ministry. An EU official said that this would correspond to 1.4% of total annual EU poultry production.
Although the current negotiations provide for a warning system in the event of market imbalance due to excessive imports from Latin America, the mechanism is “ill-suited” to the agricultural sector, the Polish ministry considered. “Activating this mechanism at EU level may be difficult in practice,” it added in the statement.
This statement will please France, which has led opposition to the Mercosur agreement. Since the last round of negotiations in early October, Paris has been working hard behind the scenes to win over other member states to its cause. It had obtained some positive signals from Poland, which were confirmed this Friday.
The deal has been strongly criticised by French farmers, who fear competition from Mercosur products. Several demonstrations are expected this week in France. In Brussels today, French Prime Minister Michel Barnier will try to convince EU Trade Commissioner Vladis Dombrovskis not to close the deal.
Environmentalists are also up in arms about the need to include high environmental standards in the future agreement, such as rules on deforestation.
Negotiations are currently focusing on inclusion of a mechanism in the deal enabling it to be suspended in the event of breach by either party of the Paris Agreement on climate, which the EU wants to make an ‘essential element’ of the deal, according to the EU official.
The Mercosur countries and the European Commission hope to close a deal early December when the negotiators meet in Uruguay.
