Free trade agreement with Mercosur and the beef sector
27.3.2017
Question for written answer P-002061-17
to the Commission
Rule 130
Renaud Muselier (PPE) , Michel Dantin (PPE) , Tokia Saïfi (PPE) , Franck Proust (PPE)
In November 2016, the Commission published a study on the cumulative effects of free trade agreements on EU agriculture. The authors of that study assessed the cumulative economic effect of 12 trade agreements in force or in the pipeline, including the agreement currently being negotiated with Mercosur.
While the wine and spirits sector has been galvanised by these agreements, the study would seem to show that concluding free trade agreements has had an adverse overall effect on the beef, sheep meat, poultry, rice and sugar sectors. The issue of carcass balance, identified during the negotiations with Canada, does not seem to have been taken into account, when the importation of prime cuts is liable to impact on the use of all of the carcass.
1. Can the Commission confirm that it views the beef sector as a sensitive one in the context of the negotiations with Mercosur, as it stated in May 2016?
2. In view of the food scandal reported in Brazil on 17 March, when an enormous network trading illicitly in rotten meat was dismantled, does the Commission plan to exclude beef from the agreement?