Brazil, Argentina call EU trade offer to Mercosur disappointing

BRASILIA/BUENOS AIRES: The European Union farm products offer presented this week during talks in Brasília on a trade deal with the Mercosur bloc was disappointing, negotiators for Brazil and Argentina said.

Brazil’s chief negotiator, Ambassador Ronaldo Costa Filho, said the European offer to allow 70,000 tonnes of beef and 600,000 tonnes of ethanol to enter the EU with lower tariffs was far from what Mercosur members were expecting and will make the goal of reaching a deal by December more difficult.

The small offer came as a surprise, but did not impede “productive and constructive” talks on other areas, Costa Filho said.

Given the level of commitment by both sides to reaching an overall deal by December, he said he believed it was “technically possible” to resolve the beef and ethanol issues.

Mercosur had previously said an offer without beef in particular could not lead to a deal.

According to Argentina’s powerful farm lobby, the beef quota as proposed is equivalent to just two hamburgers a year per EU resident.

EU nations led by France and Ireland had previously proposed postponing the farm trade offer until rules can be agreed to avoid unfair competition.

“We made it clear to the EU that there has to be a substantial improvement for there to be a deal,” Horacio Reyser, secretary for economic relations at Argentina’s foreign ministry, said. — Reuters