July 14, 2006
EU group pushes for ban on Brazil's farm products
Farm cooperatives from the European Union are asking the European Commission to ban imports of Brazilian farm products on sanitary concerns, the local Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper reported Thursday (Jul 13) from Geneva.
On Jul 11, the General Confederation of Agricultural Co-operatives in the European Union (Cogeca), sent a note to top trade negotiating authorities in Brussels asking for immediate bans on Brazilian food goods, especially meats, the newspaper reported.
An EU veterinarian mission is currently visiting Brazilian meat-packing facilities and meeting with animal health officials in Brazil.
Cogeca accuses Brazil of not following international animal and vegetable health standards required in the EU.
The move by Cogeca comes as no surprise to Brazilian agricultural producers and industry.
"When countries know that subsidies are not going to be there for them, and that they cannot compete with Brazil on price, they invest sanitary reasons to ban trade," Marcus Vinicius Pratini de Moraes, former Agriculture Minister and president of the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (Abiec), said during a luncheon this week with reporters in Sao Paulo.
"Sanitary measures are the new way to get around World Trade Organization trade rules. When they want to avoid competitive imports, they use sanitary issues as a protectionist tool," Moraes said.
The EU, along with the US, is in its final stage of international trade negotiations concerning agriculture subsidies with Brazil and other developing nations.
The EU has bans on Brazilian beef in three states--Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana and Sao Paulo--because of
According to local press reports, the EU said it would not ban chicken exports from Rio Grande do Sul, a southern state, following the news of a case of Newcastle disease found on a small family farm last week.
Brazil is the world's leading producer and exporter of beef and chicken, as well as coffee, sugar, sugarcane ethanol and orange juice.
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