(AGENPARL) – Wed 17 December 2025 [1] scribo-webmail-logo [13]
Press service **
European Parliament **
Press release
17-12-2025
INTA
Mercosur: Parliament and Council agree on agriculture safeguards [2]
Possibility to suspend tariff preferences for sensitive agricultural products such as poultry, beef, eggs, citrus and sugar
Stricter thresholds to trigger safeguards
Commission to monitor market constantly and proactively and report at least every six months
On Wednesday, Parliament and Council negotiators informally agreed on measures to protect EU agriculture once the EU-Mercosur trade and partnership agreements are in place.
The draft regulation sets out how, in the context of the Mercosur trade agreement, the European Commission could decide to temporarily suspend tariff preferences on the import of certain agricultural products considered sensitive (such as poultry or beef) from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay if these imports are seen to be harming EU producers.
The most important measures agreed are:
An increase in import volume of more than 8% compared to the three-year average would be evidence of serious injury and would trigger an investigation into suspending preferential tariffs
A decrease in prices of more than 8% compared to the three-year average would also be treated as serious injury and give reason to start an investigation.
The Commission may extend the scope of its monitoring to non-sensitive products, upon request by the EU industry.
The Commission will constantly and proactively monitor imports of sensitive products and produce a monitoring report, at least every 6 months, with an assessment of the impact of those imports, and report to Parliament and Council.
The exchange of data between member states and the Commission will be improved.
The European Commission will issue a statement ensuring stronger alignment of production standards applied to imported products, notably on animal welfare and pesticides from Mercosur countries.
Rapporteur Gabriel Mato (EPP, ES) [3] stated afterwards: “Today, we send a clear message: we can move forward with the Mercosur agreement without leaving our farmers unprotected. We have agreed on a robust, swift and legally sound safeguard mechanism that allows us to respond in a timely manner to market disruptions and provides the certainty the sector has long been calling for.”
Bernd Lange (S&D, DE) [4], Chair of the International Trade committee said: “We have done our utmost for our agricultural sector. They can rest assured that any potential disruption to our market will be detected in good time and dealt with. Now that everyone understands how this additional safety net will work, the way is clear for the approval of the much-needed EU-Mercosur trade agreement.”
Next steps*
The provisional agreement will need the formal adoption by both Council and Parliament before it can enter into force.
Background*
The bilateral safeguard clauses [5] are to be part of both the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement and the EU-Mercosur interim Trade Agreement. Those two agreements still need to be ratified by the European Parliament, following their signature, expected later this month.
The EU is Mercosur’s second-largest trading partner in goods, with exports of €57 billion in 2024. The EU accounts for a quarter of total Mercosur trade in services, with EU exports to the region amounting to €29 billion in 2023.
[CL1] [6] i would leave serious injury,in as this is an official definition
Further information
[7] scribo-webmail-arrow [14]
Committee on International Trade
[8] scribo-webmail-arrow [15]
The EU-Mercosur Agreement
Lieven COSIJN
Press officer (BE)
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