The commitment given by Mercosur countries on respecting EU protected geographical indicators (PGIs) that formed a core part of the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement’s agri-food safeguards looks set to crumble before the deal has even been implemented.
That is what EU agri sector stakeholders group Farm Europe has warned this week.
Last week, representatives of US president Donald Trump and Argentine president Javier Milei put pen to paper on a trade deal that the US ambassador to Argentina Jamieson Greer heralded as a lowering of “long-standing trade barriers” that provides “significant market access for American exporters”.
Farm Europe’s concern with the US-Argentina deal relates to article 2.5, which states that “Argentina shall not restrict US market access due to the mere use of the individual cheese and meat terms listed” in an annex to the agreement.
However, among these meat and cheese terms set out in the annex are product names protected in the EU and which had been due to receive legal protection in Mercosur countries under the Commission’s deal with the South American trading bloc.
Under fire
These terms referenced in the new US-Argentina include Black Forest Ham, Brie, Camembert, Chorizo, Emmental, Fontina, Gorgonzola, Gouda, Feta, Mortadella, Pecorino and Parmesan.
Irish PGIs include Irish whiskey, Irish grass-fed beef, Irish cream and Achill lamb, although none of these are referenced in the new Argentina deal.
Farm Europe suggested that Argentina’s moves with the US undermines Brussels’ claims on Mercosur protections.
“The European Commission, under the leadership of Ursula von der Leyen, has repeatedly presented the Mercosur deal as a strategic success capable of defending European excellence,” the group said.
“Yet if one of the key signatories can simultaneously dismantle the practical enforceability of geographical indicator protection through separate trade concessions, the agreement risks becoming not a shield, but a vulnerability.”
President Trump's trade relationship with his ally in Argentina has caused waves at home as well as abroad.
His move to loosen tariffs around Argentinian access to US beef markets unsettled ranchers late last year, as they warned the move would hit producer prices.
Read more
US cattlemen hit out at Argentina quota
The commitment given by Mercosur countries on respecting EU protected geographical indicators (PGIs) that formed a core part of the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement’s agri-food safeguards looks set to crumble before the deal has even been implemented.
That is what EU agri sector stakeholders group Farm Europe has warned this week.
Last week, representatives of US president Donald Trump and Argentine president Javier Milei put pen to paper on a trade deal that the US ambassador to Argentina Jamieson Greer heralded as a lowering of “long-standing trade barriers” that provides “significant market access for American exporters”.
Farm Europe’s concern with the US-Argentina deal relates to article 2.5, which states that “Argentina shall not restrict US market access due to the mere use of the individual cheese and meat terms listed” in an annex to the agreement.
However, among these meat and cheese terms set out in the annex are product names protected in the EU and which had been due to receive legal protection in Mercosur countries under the Commission’s deal with the South American trading bloc.
Under fire
These terms referenced in the new US-Argentina include Black Forest Ham, Brie, Camembert, Chorizo, Emmental, Fontina, Gorgonzola, Gouda, Feta, Mortadella, Pecorino and Parmesan.
Irish PGIs include Irish whiskey, Irish grass-fed beef, Irish cream and Achill lamb, although none of these are referenced in the new Argentina deal.
Farm Europe suggested that Argentina’s moves with the US undermines Brussels’ claims on Mercosur protections.
“The European Commission, under the leadership of Ursula von der Leyen, has repeatedly presented the Mercosur deal as a strategic success capable of defending European excellence,” the group said.
“Yet if one of the key signatories can simultaneously dismantle the practical enforceability of geographical indicator protection through separate trade concessions, the agreement risks becoming not a shield, but a vulnerability.”
President Trump's trade relationship with his ally in Argentina has caused waves at home as well as abroad.
His move to loosen tariffs around Argentinian access to US beef markets unsettled ranchers late last year, as they warned the move would hit producer prices.
Read more
US cattlemen hit out at Argentina quota
SHARING OPTIONS