Source:  John Strak, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 11/15/10

Copa-Cogeca, the federation of European cooperatives and farmers’ unions in the European Union, has attacked the EU Commission’s move to prioritize completing trade-liberalizing talks with Mercosur, the Latin American Trading Group, in its trade policy agenda for the next five years.

The Commission claims its trade strategy will provide triple benefits for Europe: stronger economic growth, more jobs and increased consumer choice. The Commission has also made a free trade agreement with Mercosur a priority.

“Copa-Cogeca strongly opposes the talks, as any agreement would have a catastrophic impact on the EU agriculture sector, Copa-Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen warned in a news release. “These imports do not have to comply with the same high standards as those in the EU and an agreement would lead to a substantial contraction in the EU agriculture sector, threatening 28 million jobs in EU rural areas.”
He went on to say opening commodities market to cheaper imports from non-EU countries would go against the EU commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In the UK, The Scotsman newspaper quoted Scottish Farmers Union vice-president Nigel Miller as saying that while the overall aims of securing a deal between the EU and Mercosur were laudable, jeopardizing Europe's ability to produce food or undermining food security by exposing the EU to new health risks was too high a price to pay.

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