Parliament and Council negotiators have reached an informal agreement on measures to protect European Union agriculture as part of the pending EU-Mercosur trade and partnership agreements. The draft regulation outlines procedures for the European Commission to temporarily suspend tariff preferences on imports of certain sensitive agricultural products, such as poultry or beef, from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay if these imports are found to harm EU producers.
Key elements of the agreement include automatic investigations if import volumes rise by more than 8% or prices fall by more than 8% compared to a three-year average. These thresholds would be considered evidence of serious injury to EU producers. The Commission may also expand monitoring to non-sensitive products at the request of industry representatives.
Investigations into potential market disruptions must be completed within six months for non-sensitive products and within three months for sensitive ones. For sensitive products, provisional measures can be adopted quickly—within 21 days after notification.
The Commission will regularly monitor imports of sensitive products and provide impact reports at least every six months to both Parliament and Council. Data sharing between member states and the Commission will also be improved. Additionally, the European Commission will issue a statement aiming for greater alignment in production standards applied to imported goods, particularly regarding animal welfare and pesticide use in Mercosur countries.
Rapporteur Gabriel Mato (EPP, ES) commented: “Today, we send a clear message: we can move forward with the Mercosur agreement without leaving our farmers unprotected. We have agreed on a robust, swift and legally sound safeguard mechanism that allows us to respond in a timely manner to market disruptions and provides the certainty the sector has long been calling for.”
Bernd Lange (S&D, DE), Chair of the International Trade committee added: “We have done our utmost for our agricultural sector. They can rest assured that any potential disruption to our market will be detected in good time and dealt with. Now that everyone understands how this additional safety net will work, the way is clear for the approval of the much-needed EU-Mercosur trade agreement.”
The provisional agreement still requires formal adoption by both Council and Parliament before it takes effect.
Bilateral safeguard clauses are set to become part of both the broader EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement and an interim Trade Agreement; both agreements await ratification by the European Parliament following their expected signature later this month.
The EU is currently Mercosur’s second-largest trading partner in goods. In 2024, exports from Mercosur countries to the EU totaled €57 billion. The EU also accounts for about one quarter of all Mercosur trade in services; its exports to Mercosur reached €29 billion in 2023.
