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Mercosur and European Union flag. Credit: Beto Gomez\/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n
The EU has delayed the signing of a free-trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc of countries.<\/p>\n
Lat night (18 December), president of the European Commisssion Ursula von der Leyen confirmed the EU had agreed to delay signing the deal with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, to January. <\/p>\n
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\u201cWe need a few extra weeks to address some issues with member states,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have reached out to our Mercosur partners and agreed to postpone slightly the signature.\u201d<\/p>\n The agreement has recently seen opposition from Italy and France. <\/p>\n The trade deal, originally agreed in 2019 after more than 20 years of negotiation, has\u00a0faced repeated delays<\/a>\u00a0due to resistance from several EU member states, including Ireland and France.\u00a0<\/p>\n A \u201cpolitical agreement\u201d was reached between the EU and the Mercosur bloc in December last year.<\/a> <\/p>\n If ratified, the deal would establish the \u201cworld\u2019s biggest free trade zone\u201d, encompassing a market of over 700 million people, according to the Commission.<\/p>\n \u201cThis deal is of crucial importance for Europe \u2013 economically, diplomatically and geopolitically,\u201d von der Leyen insisted on Thursday. <\/p>\n \u201cIt opens new trade and economic opportunities for all our Member States.<\/p>\n \u201cWith additional checks and safeguards, we have built in all necessary protections for our farmers and our consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n Yesterday, the European Parliament and Council negotiators also informally agreed on agriculture \u201csafeguards\u201d which intend to protect EU farmers. <\/p>\n Both parties have agreed to tougher rules around imports of goods from the Mercosur bloc, which could see the Commission temporarily suspending tariff-free imports on \u201csensitive\u201d agricultural goods, including poultry, beef, sugar, eggs or citrus products if imports are viewed as harming European producers. <\/p>\n Under the agreed measures, \u201can investigation into suspending preferential tariffs\u201d would be triggered by a rise in import volume of over 8% or a slump in prices of more than 8% compared to a three-year average.<\/p>\n The Commission could also choose to monitor \u201cnon-sensitive products\u201d if requested by the local industry.<\/p>\n As it stands, the provisional agreement still requires \u201cformal adoption\u201d from both Parliament and Council before it can officially enter law. <\/p>\n In September, the Commission had originally tabled to temporarily suspend or reduce tariff concessions if import levels rose by over 10%. <\/p>\n In September, a group of EU agri-food organisations criticised the proposed safeguard mechanisms<\/a>, expressing concern that the deal could drive up competition and lower prices and product standards.<\/p>\n At the time, nine organisations, including principal EU farming lobby Copa-Cogeca and AVEC, representing the poultry sector, claimed the EC\u2019s package still \u201cfalls short\u201d.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n While this initiative clarifies certain aspects of safeguard implementation, critical questions remain over how such a unilateral legal act would be voted on, enforced, and accepted by Mercosur countries as a binding commitment by the Commission,\u201d a statement read.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \n Sign up for our daily news round-up! Just Food Excellence Awards – Nominations Closed<\/p>\n Nominations are now closed for the Just Food Excellence Awards<\/strong><\/a>. A big thanks to all the organisations that entered \u2013 your response has been outstanding, showcasing exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact.
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