EU, Mercosur Trade Talks in Decisive Stage Amid Push for Deal

Negotiations between the 28-nation EU and the South American customs bloc Mercosur are entering a key stage, as officials debate sensitive issues such as market access concessions ahead of a December target date for completing the talks. Agricultural trade has again been a particularly contentious issue in recent weeks, amid reports that Mercosur members were dissatisfied with the EU’s recent market access offer. There have also been reports of domestic concerns within the 28-nation bloc over whether providing such concessions could potentially disadvantage farmers in some EU member states. The proposal, tabled at the latest negotiating round in October, reportedly allows for 70,000 tonnes of beef and 600,000 tonnes of ethanol from Mercosur countries to be imported at lower duties, an offer that is said to have drawn criticism from Brazil and Argentina as insufficient. (See Puentes, 10 October 2017 ) Mercosur negotiators also claim that the proposed quotas are a fraction of what was on offer when talks began over a decade ago, at 100,000 tonnes of meat and one million tonnes of ethanol, according to statements officials gave to the Reuters news agency. “We made it clear to the EU that there has to be a substantial improvement...