Overview
- The European Commission has circulated an internal draft allowing temporary import limits on specified agro and agroindustrial goods under the Mercosur–EU agreement for debate in the European Council and Parliament.
- The draft lists 24 sensitive products, including beef, pork, poultry, milk powder, cheese, infant formula, corn, sorghum, rice, sugars, ethanol, biodiesel, garlic, honey, eggs, and citrus.
- Safeguards could be triggered by imports rising more than 5% over a short period versus the three‑year average or by a 5% drop in EU internal prices, and they could apply even within agreed quotas.
- Industry figures Gustavo Idígoras (Ciara‑CEC) and Nelson Illescas (GPS) criticize the plan as unilateral and discretionary, warning it could stifle the trade creation the deal is meant to deliver.
- The agreement also commits Argentina to limit export taxes on goods destined for the EU, with phased caps for the soy chain, and analysts project meaningful production and export gains by 2034/35 if lower levies and greater predictability materialize.