Source: European Parliament
One of EU’s key priorities is the health of its citizens, including food safety. To this end, EU citizens are protected by some of the strictest food safety rules in the world.
Therefore, all agriculture products imported from the Mercosur countries — and from any other third country, with or without trade agreements — must comply with EU’s sanitary and phytosanitary standards including the ban on the use of hormones as growth promoters for beef intended to export to the EU and the compliance with EU pesticides maximum residue levels[1]. The high level of consumer protection will continue to apply in the EU.
The 2019 EU-Mercosur agreement already included an ambitious chapter dedicated to promoting sustainable development, including the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement.
In addition, the parties agreed on 6 December 2024 to make the Paris Agreement an essential element of the EU-Mercosur agreement and include a binding commitment to halt deforestation.
Furthermore, EU Green Deal legislation such as the EU Deforestation Regulation[2] will apply to products imported under the agreement, ensuring that no commodities associated with deforestation are placed on the EU market.
Now that a final political agreement has been reached between the EU and Mercosur, and after completion of the legal verification and translation into all official languages, the Commission will transmit a proposal to the Council and the European Parliament for signature and conclusion of the agreement.
In that context, the Commission will present its proposal for the legal basis and architecture of the deal after an assessment of the outcome of the negotiations.
- [1] Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 February 2005 on maximum residue levels of pesticides in or on food and feed of plant and animal origin and amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC.
- [2] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation; https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32023R1115