France is protected from the Mercosur Agreement

The French government has undertaken in fresh days new actions to defend the interests of national farmers who have been protesting for months against a trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur block states (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay), fearing unfair competition from non-EU producers.

France protects itself against the Mercosur Agreement. Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard announced a tightening up of controls on imported food products to guarantee that goods entering France comply with EU standards and food security. The fresh decree is intended to cover more than a twelve categories of products specified as fruit (e.g. melons, grapes, apples) which must be free from residues of chemicals banned in the EU.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu stressed that products containing traces of pesticides banned in Europe, specified as Mankozeb or Glufosinate, would not be allowed to be sold in France. According to the authorities, this is simply a step to defend both the wellness of consumers and the situation of the French agricultural sector.

This decision responds to increasing protests by farmers who believe that the Mercosur Agreement will open the marketplace to cheaper food products from countries applying lower environmental and sanitary standards. The French producers claim that in specified a situation they will be forced to compete with imported goods which do not meet strict European requirements, which they believe could lead to a fall in prices and bankruptcy of many farms.

Although Germany and Spain are in favour of the Mercosur Agreement, France underlines the request to defend standards and fair competition. Genevard made it clear that the application of these rules was indisputable and called on the European Commission to introduce akin rules at Union level.

The issue of the EU-Mercosur agreement is 1 of the most controversial topics in fresh months in Europe – although the agreement has been negotiated for more than 20 years, its ratification inactive faces opposition from any associate States afraid by the effects on the agricultural marketplace and climate protection.

Unfortunately, the Polish-speaking Warsaw Government does not take any action, either against signing the Mercosur Agreement or to defend its own market, if it enters into force. His representatives talk a lot about it in pro-government media, but they do nothing specific.

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