European farmers call for Mercosur rethink as Brazil standards fall
FARMERS across the European Union are calling for an immediate rethink of the EU-Mercosur trade deal over fresh concerns with Brazilian production methods.
It’s a deal that has created a great deal of controversy, delays and uproar from European farmers who fear their markets could be swamped by cheap beef, and other agri imports.
EU officials have forensically examined production methods by the Mercosur bloc made up of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and newcomer Bolivia.
It is understood the deal would allow an additional 99,000 tonnes of beef to enter the EU tariff-free from the Mercosur countries.
Under the latest scrutiny, European agricultural organizations are calling on EU policymakers to reconsider the EU-Mercosur trade agreement following Brazil’s recent suspension of beef exports from female cattle.
A recent EU audit revealed Brazil’s persistent issues in meeting European food safety standards, particularly regarding the tracking of banned hormones.
DG SANTE’s audit highlighted significant gaps in Brazil’s ability to trace hormone use in its cattle exports to the EU, particularly estradiol 17β, a growth hormone widely used in Brazil but banned in the EU for over 40 years due to its potential cancer risks.
Despite these findings, the EU Commission has allowed Brazilian authorities to implement a ‘self-ban’ until they can guarantee hormone-free beef exports to Europe.
This decision has raised serious concerns about the adequacy of oversight and the reliability of Brazil’s self-regulation, especially considering the recent ‘Carne Fraca’ scandal which exposed severe regulatory failures in the Brazilian meat industry.
Irish politician Marian Harkin said the deal could seriously damage Ireland’s beef suckler cow sector.
She said: “If this were to happen and prime cuts of beef entered the EU market tariff-free it would simply cut the ground from under the Irish suckler herd. In the region I represent, the suckler herd, along with the sheep sector, is the backbone of farming.”
As well as the livestock concerns there are also problems on the arable side. Recurring difficulties in Brazil restricting the use of hazardous plant protection products and the increasing differences in terms of phytosanitary standards between Brazil and in the EU, makes the situation unsustainable and unacceptable for EU farmers.
For example, a forthcoming CEPM study shows that 52% of the active substances authorized for use on maize in Brazil and Argentina had been banned in the EU, some of them, such as atrazine, for over 15 years.
As far as sugar beet is concerned, there are around 30 active substances authorized in sugar cane in Brazil that are no longer authorized for use in sugar beet in the EU.
These differences cannot be explained only by different conditions such as climate, soil, or mitigation measures. EU farmers say an active substance considered dangerous for health or for the environment in the EU should also be considered dangerous in Mercosur countries.
A joint statement issued by several European farm organizations, including Copa Cogeca, said: “European farmers are alarmed by the potential risks of increasing imports from Brazil under the EU-Mercosur agreement as this will undermine the stringent EU standards for animal welfare, environmental protection, and consumer health.
“Allowing access to the European market for products that fail to meet these established standards would be a disservice to EU producers and consumers alike.
“We urge EU policymakers to reject this agreement in its current form and to champion a trade policy that upholds the rigorous standards of our agricultural sector and reflects European values, as underscored in the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of Agriculture.”
Meanwhile, farmers are preparing to take to the streets in protests over the EU-Mercosur deal.
Farmers group La Via Campesina said: “The EU wants to set up a fund to compensate European farmers for the damage caused by the EU-Mercosur agreement, however this damage should never be allowed to happen in the first place!
“And the most simple way to do that is not signing the agreement. The vast majority of European farmers are opposed to competition between farmers throughout the world, as it destroys more social, sustainable agriculture, is harmful to farmers’ incomes, the environment and, more broadly, the rural populations of the signatory countries.
“We are preparing to mobilize to prevent this disastrous agreement from being approved.”
