site.btaGrain Producers Demand Transparency on Bulgaria’s Backing for EU-Mercosur Deal

The National Grain Producers Association (NGPA) has sent an official letter to outgoing Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, insisting on clarification of the national procedure and the reasons on which Bulgaria's Council of Ministers based its support for the signing of the trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the Mercosur countries, the association said in a statement received by BTA.

The statement recalls that on January 9 the EU Council gave its consent by qualified majority for the agreement to be signed, but it remains unclear under what procedure and on the basis of what analysis Bulgaria’s position was formed.

The sectoral organization notes that at present there is no publicly available information on a decision of the Council of Ministers, nor on any interdepartmental consultations, impact assessments or discussions with stakeholders, including the agricultural sector. NGPA states that the lack of clarity on these issues is causing serious concern not only in the farming community but also more broadly in public and economic terms.

NGPA emphasizes that the EU-Mercosur agreement may have a significant impact on sensitive agricultural sectors, including through increased imports from third countries with different production and regulatory standards. Bulgarian agricultural producers work under considerably stricter requirements regarding the environment, food safety, the use of plant protection products and working conditions, which raises the question of real competitiveness and a level playing field on the EU internal market, the statement says.

In the interests of transparency and good governance, NGPA expects to receive information on the decision of the Council of Ministers, as well as on the analyses and consultations on which the support for signing the agreement was based.

On Tuesday, agricultural producers will protest against the agreement with Mercosur in front of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg. NGPA representatives will take part.

A day before the agreement was signed, Bulgaria's outgoing Agriculture and Food Minister Georgi Tahov told journalists in Berlin that he did not expect it to have a very dramatic effect on the market in Bulgaria. In his words, Bulgaria’s exports to the Mercosur countries are almost negligible, and imports are also at very low levels.

The agreement was signed on January 17 in Paraguay. The European Commission writes on its official webpage about the opportunities the EU-Mercosur trade partnership opens up for Bulgaria’s development.