Eu Mercosur Trade Agreement Full Text

Following the adoption and publication of the 17-page “Memorandum of Understanding” on 1 July 2019, 29 unfinished texts of the trade agreement`s chapters and annexes were published in July and September, stating that they were “published for information purposes only and may undergo further amendments, including as a result of the legal review process”. The Hilton quota offers Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Mercosur countries specific quotas of 20%, compared to 45-60% for other categories of high-quality beef products. Canada recently gained duty-free access to the Hilton quota as a result of its trade agreement with the EU. In short, due to the complexity of the EU tariff quotas and the different products offered by the US and MERCOSUR, it is unlikely that the US market share for beef exports will be significantly affected by the EU-MERCOSUR trade agreement. Disclaimer: Taking into account the Commission`s transparency policy, the Commission publishes the texts of the commercial part of the Agreement following the Memorandum of Understanding announced on 28 June 2019. On 24 February 2014, at the seventh Brazil-EU Summit, the Brazilian President indicated that a free trade agreement between MERCOSUR and the EU was about to be concluded. The scope of the agreement is very broad. [9] In addition to tariffs, it includes rules of origin, commercial products, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, technical barriers to trade (TBT), liberalization of services and investment, competition policy, subsidies, state-owned enterprises, trade and sustainable development. This includes improving access to public procurement and intellectual property rights, including “geographical indications” or the protection of regional food specialities. [2] Legal safeguards are created to protect 357 European foods and beverages against counterfeiting, including Prosciutto di Parma and Fromage de Herve. [3] Customs procedures will also be simplified under the Agreement. [7] The total population of both regions means that the agreement would have a population of 780 million people.

[5] This is the largest free trade agreement on which Mercosur has agreed since the bloc`s creation in 1991. [2] It is also the LARGEST EU trade agreement on tariff reductions to date. [2] The agreement will remove 93% of tariffs on MERCOSUR exports to the EU, while preferential treatment will be offered for the remaining 7%. Similarly, the agreement removes tariffs or creates tariff quotas for the EU`s main agricultural exports to MERCOSUR. In addition, the agreement provides for the protection of more than 350 geographical indications (GIs), recognises the principle of regionalisation and adopts language on EU food safety and health standards, including the “precautionary principle”. Although a definitive tariff has not yet been published, a preliminary analysis based on alleged tariff reductions and tariff quotas shows that US agricultural products competing with MERCOSUR and EU products will be at a significant disadvantage. The EU has a high preferential tax rate outside the quota on beef and beef products of around 60%. Under the agreement, the EU will bring 99,000 tonnes of beef (55% high-quality fresh beef and 45% frozen beef) to its market with a 7.5% tariff and remove the quota rate for the World Trade Organisation`s Hilton quota. (For more information, see the FAS report Comparing EU tariff rate quotas for high-quality beef.) Ethanol From 2015 to 2019, MERCOSUR had only an average market share of 7% in ethanol exports to the EU, but received major concessions in the new agreement. Mercosur received a quota tax of one third of the most-favoured-nation (MFN) rate on 450,000 tonnes (570 million litres) of ethanol for chemical purposes and 200,000 tonnes (253 million litres) of ethanol for all uses, including fuels. In comparison, the EU imported a total of 966,000 tonnes of ethanol worldwide in 2019. Unanimity is required in the Council.

If approved, the Council signs the agreement and forwards it to the Mercosur countries and the European Parliament. An EU Association Agreement must also be approved by the national parliaments of all EU Member States. Ratification of the agreement by the national parliaments of the Mercosur countries is also required. [40] Overall, this is a process that, in itself, can take many years. [2] However, in the EU, the commercial part of the agreement (and certain elements of the preamble, institutional provisions and final provisions) can be provisionally implemented after ratification by Mercosur and approval by the European Parliament. The European Commission may also decide to present the trade pillar as a separate trade agreement. Mercosur has also accepted the principle of regionalization, or the concept that trade can continue despite animal disease outbreaks, as long as exporting regions (whether states, counties or others) can prove that they are free of this disease. Argentina has not introduced regionalization for poultry imports from the United States and Brazil has not introduced regionalization for U.S.

pork imports, disrupting or completely eliminating U.S. exports to these markets. Dinaman Tuxá, an indigenous leader, said: “Agreements like this only increase the level of violence against indigenous peoples. We must tell the EU that the signing of this free trade agreement could lead to genocide in Brazil. If they sign this agreement, blood will be shed. [10] On 4 May 2010, the European Commission decided to resume trade negotiations with MERCOSUR. Following the resumption, the first round of negotiations took place in Buenos Aires from 29 June to 2 July 2010. .