Commission unveils Mercosur safeguards to reassure farmers

The bloc’s executive has proposed measures that would suspend trade benefits for food imports from Mercosur countries if they drive down EU market prices – but parts of Europe’s farming sector are doubtful.

The European Commission unveiled the plan on Wednesday, pitching it as a way to “strengthen protections for EU farmers” and win over sceptical member states ahead of the ratification of the long-stalled EU-Mercosur trade deal.

The regulation was formally tabled a month after the EU executive launched the approval process for the agreement, which had been negotiated over more than 25 years.

The safeguard aims to ensure Mercosur tariff preferences do not harm sensitive EU products such as beef, poultry, or sugar. It would allow the EU to temporarily withdraw tariff preferences if imports are found to seriously distort the market.

According to the proposal, the clause can be triggered if import prices from Mercosur fall at least 10% below EU prices while imports under preferential terms rise by more than 10% year-on-year. Alternatively, it could also apply if prices of Mercosur products drop by 10% compared to the previous year and remain 10% cheaper than in the EU.

The Commission says it will launch an investigation “without delay” at the request of one or more member states and. In the most urgent cases, the Commission may activate a provisional safeguard within 21 days if there is “sufficient risk of harm.”

But farm groups remain unconvinced. AVEC, representing EU poultry producers, warned that the mechanism is “illusory and non-functional”, arguing that current and new import quotas make the 10% threshold impossible to reach. CIBE, the sugar beet growers’ association, voiced similar criticism, urging the EU to focus on reciprocity in production standards rather than on safeguards.

The proposal now goes to the Council and European Parliament for possible changes and approval.

(adm, aw)