Europe has reserved a clause to block Mercosur food exports

Barely twelve days have elapsed since Mercosur and the European Union (EU) announced the conclusion of the technical negotiations to seal a strategic partnership with mutual concessions for tradeand the political capital of the old continent abound in efforts to bring tranquility to their food producers, agitated for the effects that the elimination of obstacles can bring.

With technical teams and bureaucrats to resell, the European Commission -the executive body of the 28-country bloc- has drained the production of a document containing answers to questions frequently asked by economic agents The chronicler.

In this 18-page document, Brussels seeks to bring calm to the European countryside and warns Mercosur that it will only allow the entry of food products meeting its "strict standards"or otherwise will implement discretionary measures to stop trade bi-regional.

On the same day, the agreement was announced, the European agricultural cooperatives, based in Copa-Cogeca, warned that the outgoing European Commission was "opening up the Pandora's box for him double standard"productive, arguing that the competitive advantage of the rural sector in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay comes from lax health controls, relaxed labor laws, or the misuse of agrochemicals.

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In response, the Commerce Department – which negotiated the deal – warned on Tuesday that the agreement provides for a "precautionary principle" What calls on the European Union to close its borders to South American production in order to protect health foods, animals, plants or its citizenseven when the scientific evidence is inconclusive.

The agreement includes the parties' commitment to clear rules of the game and the elimination of any state subsidies that favor dumping. In the case of Mercosur, many badysts and officials admit that regulatory changes are needed to adapt to the terrain.

According to this official statement, the EU will maintain its "strict approach to health protection" with regard to food, including: "ban on genetically modified organisms"; and will maintain its right "to establish maximum residue limits for pesticidesveterinary drugs or contaminants "present in products intended to be ingested by humans.

Brussels also pointed out that the chapter on sustainable development allows "to apply" the "precautionary principle" to limit imports through a dispute resolution mechanism including external reviews, participation of unions, NGOs and international organizations (such as the ILO) to ensure that environmental regulations, workers' rights are not undermined or that there are people under child labor or forced labor regimes.

Although the details of the agreement remain under lock and key, the EU has also moved towards its production sectors as Argentina and the rest of the Mercosur countries are committed to "facilitating business", with the aim of "making more predictable" and transparency of procedures, regulations and revenues for the markets ".