Sensitive livestock sectors demanding the EU to defend their livelihoods against the risk of TTIP
Ask to follow the example of the free trade agreement (CETA) between Canada and the EU. An agreement without considering the Community regulatory model would cause a chronic crisis similar to the size of the dairy sector.
Since the start of negotiations on free trade and investment (TTIP, for its acronym in English) between the European Union and the United States (and in the 11th round), farmers and community related sectors have shown their concern. Both US as the EU will keep their respective regulatory models in livestock production, which legislation imposes huge costs to the Community producers.
The American model allows the production of foods of animal origin with antibiotic growth promoters, hormones, meat meals, additives and unauthorized GMOs in the EU, and also treated chicken carcasses. These practices, in addition to US a very competitive global livestock production country, threaten the sustainability of the sensitive EU sectors in an area of free trade.
Spanish affected sectors (see the end signatories organizations), which account for 35% of final agricultural production, they met with officials of the Ministries of Agriculture and Economy to underline the importance of livestock in the economy and rural development. They requested a more active defense, along with other EU member countries, so that the continuity of European livestock production is ensured in the future according to the US
A TTIP regardless Community regulatory model would be extremely damaging to the interests of the EU. It would mean the loss of over 400,000 jobs in the 10 years after its entry into force (* 1). That is, an important part of the productive sectors linked to these farmers, who would be engaged in a chronic crisis of comparable size to that currently experienced by the dairy sector would be lost. A damage that is not politically or socially acceptable in the current situation of the EU.
Moreover, public opinion is very critical with TTIP not respecting the demands of European citizens on food security, and therefore demands that the agreement include that imported products meet the same standards as Community. The principle of Community preference not allowed to give more benefits to a third country than those member states.
The EU-Canada CETA Treaty, a precedent to consider in negotiating the TTIP
Canada recently signed a free trade agreement with the EU (CETA called -Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement-), where some of the livestock sectors considered sensitive will have some tariff protection, both from Canada and the EU and even the meat sector polllo and eggs has been excluded from the liberalization agreement (* 2). It has also failed to protect Canadian producers of sensitive sectors in the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement signed by 12 countries in Asia and America, including the USA and Canada) (* 3). These precedents open the way to a differential treatment in the TTIP of Community livestock sectors most affected by the loss of competitiveness will mean the agreement.
The livestock sub-sectors represent only 0.47% of GDP in the European Union (* 4), so the signatory organizations believe that their exclusion from TTIP would be a lesser evil in order to facilitate free trade agreement would bring great benefits both political and economic EU and US Your application does not exclude that in the future both regulatory models should be analyzed with a view to convergence to allow full integration of these sectors under the Treaty TTIP.
REFERENCES:
(* 1) Impact on Community Spanish livestock sector and the Transatlantic Partnership Agreement on Trade and Investment (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership -TTIP-) between the United States and the European Union.
http://www.efeagro.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/03/ESTUDIO-IMPACTO-TTIP-SECTORES-GANADEROS-EU-03-2015-1.pdf
(* 2) CETA – Summary of the negotiating results end http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/bilateral-relations/pdf/canada_en.pdf
(* 3) TPP signatory countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States and Vietnam.
(* 4) European Union – Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development – AGRICULTURE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION STATISTICAL AND ECONOMIC INFORMATION-December 2013 http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/statistics/agricultural/2013/pdf/full- report_en.pdf
Signatories: ANPROGAPOR, ASAJA, ASEPRHU, ASOPROVAC, Propollo, AGRI-COOPERATIVES OF SPAIN, AECEC, Unistock SPAIN, UPA
