EU-Mercosur agreement – unfair competition against the Italian rice sector and alarm over the safety of imports

Subject: EU-Mercosur agreement – unfair competition against the Italian rice sector and alarm over the safety of imports

Italian producer organisations have recently sounded the alarm about the effects of the EU-Mercosur agreement in relation to unfair competition against Italian and European agri-food products.

At present, South American countries are exporting 100 000 tonnes of zero-duty rice per year to the EU.

The agreement provides for an additional annual quota of as much as 60 000 tonnes.

Such a sharp increase in competition is of great concern to Italian and European producers, who also condemn the huge infringements of the rules on food safety, labour protection and the environment by South American producers, when Italian producers have to comply with the relevant standards.

There is also great concern about the arrival on European markets of agricultural products contaminated by pesticides that are not permitted in the EU, and of plant diseases that are unknown in Europe, such as ‘black spot’, as well as many cases of Escherichia-Coli discovered during checks on meat imported from Brazil, the exploitation of child labour and the surge in deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, as reported by the Brasilian Space Research Institute.

In view of the above, and noting that on 7 October 2020 Parliament expressed its opposition to the ratification of the EU-Mercosur Agreement, can the Commission answer the following questions:

1. Will it apply the ‘sensitive product’ principle to Italian and European rice products as a means of protection against zero-duty imports?

2. Will it revise the EU-Mercosur agreement in order to ensure reciprocity with regard to the EU rules on food safety, labour protection and environmental sustainability?