November 19, 2024 - With the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro just a few days away and rumours of a possible conclusion to the EU-Mercosur agreement circulating, four of France's major agricultural sectors - INTERBEV (the interprofessional association for livestock and meat), ANVOL (the interprofessional association for meat poultry), AIBS (the interprofessional association for sugar beet and sugar) and INTERCÉRÉALES (the interprofessional association for the sugar beet and sugar beet sector) - have decided to join forces. interprofessional association for meat poultry, AIBS (Association Interprofessionnelle de la Betterave et du sucre) and INTERCÉRÉALES (interprofessional association for the French cereals industry) - have joined forces to reaffirm their firm opposition. Supported by the vast majority of Members of Parliament, they are warning of the structural consequences of this agreement for the entire French agri-food chain, from production to processing and marketing. The impact will affect all agricultural sectors, and its effects will be felt by consumers.
These 4 French agricultural sectors have drawn up three key demands to preserve the long-term viability of the French agricultural sectors and maintain the demand for quality products as well as agricultural and food sovereignty, competitiveness and sustainability of production.
Firmly reject the signing of the Mercosur agreement
The forthcoming G20 summit in Rio represents a decisive opportunity for France to categorically reaffirm its opposition to the agreement. By mobilising other EU Member States that share this vision, it can ensure that this agreement will under no circumstances be imposed despite the pressure.
It is imperative that France sends a clear signal, without compromise or concession, to definitively block any further progress on this agreement, which runs counter to its values of preserving food sovereignty and respecting the environment.
These growing concerns are shared by several Member States, including Ireland, the Netherlands and Austria. They have been reaffirmed by French and European parliamentarians and farming organisations. The sectors are urging the French government to do everything in its power to prevent the agreement from being signed by using its right of veto in the EU Council. France must be firm and consistent in reminding the European Union of the ecological and social commitments it made in the Paris agreements.
Stop the distortion of competition caused by current agricultural imports by aligning production standards
While rejecting the adoption of the Mercosur agreement, the beef, poultry and maize industries are calling for the immediate application of mirror clauses in existing agreements for agricultural imports already in progress, as Emmanuel Macron pledged to do during the last French Presidency of the European Union. Today, this asymmetrical trade allows low-cost products to enter, at prices well below those of European products, due to less stringent production standards.
For the sugar industry, it is essential that mirror clauses are applied from the agricultural production phase onwards, in particular to regulate the use of plant protection products, in order to align with European environmental standards. Applying these clauses to sugar as a finished product would have no effect.
French agricultural production must be able to remain competitive in the face of today's agronomic and environmental challenges. European agricultural sectors are already suffering from unfair competition from South American countries; the Mercosur agreement would only exacerbate this situation. And beyond raw agricultural products, this would signal an acceleration in the de-industrialisation of our sectors, with a loss of value creation in the regions.
Reinforce European controls and introduce mirror measures to ensure the conformity of imported products
The sectors are calling on the European authorities to apply mirror measures and step up controls, which must be carried out on the departure of agricultural and agri-food products, to ensure that imports comply with European regulations on safety, traceability and sustainability.
In the absence of these controls, imported products present food safety risks for consumers and compromise the balance of the market.
They remain more competitive thanks to lower production costs and less stringent standards.
Cereals and cereal products:
Grain maize :
- The European Union currently imports 25% of its maize requirements from abroad, particularly from Brazil, which exports between 6 and 7 million tonnes to the continent.
- - 1 Mt of maize is included in the additional quota under the Mercosur agreement.
- - If we include the opening of quotas for products that represent major outlets for the maize industry (starch, ethanol, poultry), we estimate that 3.4 Mt of grain maize will be imported from Brazil into the European Union.
NUTRITION FEED 10%
The additional poultrymeat quota will mean less added value for animal feed, which is essentially based on cereals.
Grinding :
Full access to maize milling products (flour, meal, flakes, etc.).
Starch :
Reduction in duties on maize starch and manioc starch (1,500 tonnes with duties halved); opening up wheat and maize gluten, currently protected in Europe, to zero duty with no limit on volume; creation of a new zero-duty quota of 600 tonnes for polyols, even though France is Europe's leading producer, with ¾ of its production exported.
Mercosur/EU production differentials:
77.5% of the plant protection products used to grow maize in Brazil are banned in France - over 95% of the maize produced in Brazil is GMO - the cost of producing maize on a typical Brazilian farm is half that of a typical French farm. Standards for storage and processing sites in terms of waste, air and water pollution and social regulations are better in the EU than in the Mercosur countries.
The Global MillerThis blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.
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