COAG (Spain) considers that the entry into force of the ban on meat imports from Brazil — effective since 3 September — is a “late but insufficient act of justice” and demands that the measure be extended to the entire Mercosur bloc, including Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. The organisation argues that the shortcomings identified by the European Commission in traceability, animal health, welfare, deforestation and the use of growth promoters are not exclusive to Brazil and that the risk to the EU market is structural.
COAG’s beef sector representative, Joaquín Gargallo, recalls that the audit published by Brussels in February already revealed serious failures in Brazilian controls, allowing meat to enter the EU without guaranteeing compliance with the hygiene and sanitary standards required of European producers. He also points to findings from the Irish organisation IFA, which highlight substantial differences in animal welfare and environmental standards between European production models and those of Brazilian farms.
“It is unacceptable that the European Commission applies a double standard: EU farmers face inflexible bureaucratic requirements, while importing multinationals have been allowed to operate for months without sufficient guarantees regarding their suppliers,” Gargallo denounces. COAG argues that this asymmetry has enabled regulatory dumping, which has directly affected Spanish livestock markets, causing a collapse in prices that particularly harms family-run beef farms.
The organisation insists that strengthened inspections must be applied effectively to every imported consignment, not merely at a documentary level. COAG already called in July for the activation of the safeguard clauses provided for in the agreement, in response to falling prices and the economic pressure facing European livestock farms.
Firm rejection of non‑reciprocal trade agreements
COAG reiterates its opposition to the current EU–Mercosur agreement, arguing that it lacks reciprocity and transparency. The organisation defends the need to incorporate enforceable and binding “mirror clauses” to ensure that any imported product meets exactly the same environmental, social, animal‑welfare and pesticide/hormone‑use standards required within the EU.
“We cannot tolerate European agriculture and livestock being used as bargaining chips in opaque trade agreements,” Gargallo stresses, warning that the transitional period of the treaty has been exploited by major operators to accelerate imports ahead of stricter controls, further distorting the market.
COAG calls on Brussels to definitively halt an agreement that, in its view, undermines European food sovereignty and threatens the survival of thousands of farms. “We cannot afford to lose a single livestock farm to unfair competition,” Gargallo concludes.
