The new EU-Australia trade deal has drawn criticism from farmers and MEPs, who argue that it will open the door to additional imports of sensitive products on top of those already agreed under the contentious Mercosur deal, while not providing full protection for certain EU regional products.
Copa-Cogeca, the EU’s influential farmers’ lobby, said in a statement on Tuesday that the EU’s concessions to Canberra in the newly signed trade deal with Australia are “unacceptable” as they fail to sufficiently protect European farmers.
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“In a post-Mercosur context, the cumulative impact of successive trade agreements makes these concessions unacceptable,” the lobby said, adding: “European farmers cannot continue to absorb the cost of bilateral trade liberalisation without adequate and truly effective safeguards.”
The EU-Australia agreement sets quotas for sensitive products including beef (30,600 tonnes a year phased in over 10 years), sheep meat (25,000 tonnes a year over seven years), sugar (35,000 tonnes) and rice (8,500 tonnes phased in over five years).
But Copa-Cogeca warned that these figures add to quotas already allocated to Mercosur countries — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay — including 99,000 tonnes for beef and existing sugar quotas with Brazil and Paraguay.
The Commission included a safeguard mechanism allowing the EU and Australia to impose temporary measures within the first seven years if a sudden increase in imports leads to major market disruption in either partner’s market.
However, the lobby described these measures as mere “communication tools,” with one representative telling Euronews that “they will be slow to activate if a market crisis occurs.”
Some MEPs already voiced concern
Before ratification, the deal must run the gauntlet of EU member states and MEPs, who have already challenged the legality of the Mercosur deal before the EU Court of Justice, delaying its ratification.
Some lawmakers have already come out against the Australia deal.
“A rude awakening this morning on learning that, once again, Ursula von der Leyen went it alone in the trade deal with Australia,” Belgian farmer and liberal MEP Benoît Cassart said, adding: “We’re set to face additional imports in sensitive sectors such as beef and sugar, even though we already raised concerns about this situation in the case of Mercosur.”
There were also concerns about the safeguarding of protected regional food names.
The EU protects “Geographical Indications” (GIs) for food and drink products linked to their place of origin.
Under the deal, 165 EU agri-food GIs and 231 EU spirit drink GIs are protected.
However, for cheeses such as the Greek "Feta" and French "Gruyère," Australian producers who have used these names in good faith and continuously for at least five years prior to the agreement will be allowed to keep using them.
These products will be “put at risk”, Cassart said.
Meanwhile, Italy's "Prosecco" wine triggered strong reactions from Italian lawmakers.
According to an EU official, under the agreement, Australian producers can continue using “Prosecco” to designate a grey grape variety in Australia, provided it is used as a variety name and tied to Australian geographical indications. This rule applies solely within Australia, which has also agreed to halt exports of such wines after 10 years.
But Italian Five Star MEP Carolina Morace argued that “with this decision, the European Commission is legalizing ‘Italian sounding,’ that is, the imitation of our agri-food excellence around the world.”
“As a Venetian, I can only reject this latest attack on our traditions, which weakens rather than strengthens Italy’s wine sector.”