Mercosur deal threat
Scottish Farmer, Scotland
Mercosur deal threat
By Douglas MacSkimming
1 Dec 2011
Fears were growing this week that Europe could be swamped by South American beef imports under a new trade deal with the region.
NFU Scotland has cranked up its opposition to ongoing trade talks between Europe and the South American trading bloc, Mercosur, after an impact assessment revealed the damage the deal could wreak on Scotland’s beef sector.
NFUS president, Nigel Miller, and chief executive Scott Walker were in Brussels this week to raise a number of issues with Commission officials, fellow farming Unions and MEPs, including the threat posed by a Mercosur deal.
The next round of talks between Europe and Mercosur – which comprises Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – are due in March 2012 and Europe anticipates a final agreement being made by July 2012 at the EU-Latin America-Caribbean summit in Chile.
However, the publication of the impact assessment clearly highlights the threat to beef production if significant changes to the proposals are not secured.
NFUS livestock policy manager, Penny Johnston said: “Grassland-based beef production, which is the cornerstone of Scottish agriculture, must not be the pawn that is sacrificed to secure a bilateral trade deal with the Mercosur bloc in 2012.
“Food producers in the EU would suffer a fall in returns because of the deal and beef would bear the brunt as a consequence of a significant uplift in beef imports from that area.”
