2023-06-08 06:11:09
“Feta”, “Roquefort”, “Parma ham”, “Gouda” will they undermine the free trade agreement that Australia and the European Union are trying to finalize? So many names associated with European territories that the island-continent would like to allow its producers to use. ” After the Second World War, Australia experienced a strong wave of immigration from Europe », justifies the Australian Minister of Agriculture, Murray Watt. “ Our producers have brought their products back from their country of origin and made them here » .
The European Union remains intractable on this issue and has submitted a list of more than 400 products that it wishes to protect. In his view, the use of the term ” Roquefort should be reserved for sheep’s milk cheeses made around the eponymous French village. And only Dutch producers should be able to claim the designation ” gouda », a cheese made in the Netherlands. Requirements to which Canberra refuses to give in, despite all the commercial advantages that this agreement would offer it.
Negotiations continue
The Minister thus declared that if Australia can’t get a good deal, better not get one at all adding, however, that negotiations with the EU were continuing.
Questioned by La Tribune, Don Farell, Minister of Trade and Tourism, while he was in Brussels earlier this week for a final round of negotiations, explained that the European Union could benefit from several opportunities if the agreement were to be signed. : “ Access to a market of highly varied goods and services from a sophisticated and quality economy, as well as a developed digital sector. Secondly, access to critical minerals and metals, and safe and secure supply chains, which is essential for the European Union today. Finally, a diversification of exchanges that goes far beyond a list of products, since it allows us to generate growth, improve our relationships and generate opportunities for our consumers. ».
And to insist: obviously, we would like to sell all our products, especially food and our wines. But we don’t want to flood the European market, just to have fair access to it to offer greater choice to the consumer. That’s what we just got with the UK ».
The free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur not close to being signed »
The free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay) is not about to be signed, estimated in early June a French diplomatic source before the trip of the minister delegate in charge of foreign trade in Brazil, Olivier Becht. ” At this stage, the account is not there. There is a very long job to be done with the Mercosur countries on the subject “, declared this diplomatic source during a conference call with journalists. She recalled that it was not for the European Union to renegotiate the terms of the agreement ” but to complete them to add more conditions on the environmental aspect. In addition, European farmers – particularly French ones – indeed fear seeing more South American foodstuffs subject to less demanding production standards flowing onto the European market. Unlike the EU, Brazil, for example, has not banned antibiotics used as growth promoters from animal feed.
(With AFP)
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