European Livestock and Meat Trades Union State of Play in Trade Negotiations Jean-Luc Mériaux DMIA AGM The Hague, The Netherlands, 2 November 2018
EU trade performance
Trade as a Political Priority Commission General Objective 6: A balanced and progressive trade policy to harness globalisation
A comparison with the US Region US FTAs EU FTAs North America Canada, Mexico Canada, Mexico Central America CAFTA-DR, Panama CAAA, CARIFORUM South America Chile, Peru, Colombia Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador Asia South Korea, Singapore South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam Middle East and North Morocco, Israel, Palestine, Tunisia, Morocco, Israel, Oman, Bahrein Africa Lebanon, Jordan Sub-Saharan Africa 5 EPAs with 13 States Pacific Australia EPA Fiji, PNG Europe Norway, Switzerland, Eastern European and Balkan countries Total 14 FTAs 37 FTAs
The EU and Free Trade Agreements: the latest Canada (CETA): provisional application Mexico (modernisation): agreement in principle ANDEAN: provisional application Mercosur: advanced stage of negotiations Ukraine: provisional application (part of association agreement) SADC: in force (Economic Partnership Agreement) Japan: negotiations concluded India, Indonesia, Malaysia: under negotiations Singapore & Vietnam: negotiations concluded, not yet in force Australia & New Zealand: under negotiations
Japan The text of the agreement was concluded on 8 December 2017. On 17 July 2018, the EU and Japan signed the Economic Partnership Agreement at the EU-Japan summit in Tokyo. The Commission aims for the entry into force of the agreement before the end of its mandate in 2019.
Vietnam The European Commission adopted the EU-Vietnam trade and investment agreements (the FTA and a separate Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) on 17 th October 2018 The texts are currently being translated into EU languages and Vietnamese and are expected to be ready in November 2018. The FTA and IPA will then be approved by the Commission and submitted as a package to the Council before the end of 2018. The Council and Parliament will discuss the text, which means that adoption and entry into force of the FTA may have to wait until autumn 2019. The IPA will take longer due to the requirement for Member State ratification.
Singapore On 18 April 2018, the Commission presented to the Council the EU- Singapore Trade Agreement and the EU-Singapore Investment Protection Agreement (IPA). The Council adopted and signed the agreements on 19 October 2018. The Parliament has to ratify the agreements and then the Council will proceed with the conclusion of the agreement. The FTA requires only the EU adoption procedure to enter into force. The EU-Singapore Investment Protection Agreement must be ratified by both the EU and by Member States. The Commission would like the Trade Agreement to come into effect before the end of its mandate in 2019.
Mexico The EU and Mexico reached an agreement in principle on 21 April 2018. The new agreement will replace a previous agreement between the EU and Mexico from 2000. The EU and Mexico fixed the technical details in October 2018. It is difficult that EU adoption could be completed before the EU Parliament s elections in May 2019.
Chile EU-Chile relations are currently governed by the 2002 EU-Chile Association Agreement (AA) which covers political dialogue, cooperation as well as a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA). The first round of negotiations to modernise the AA took place on 16 November 2017 The third negotiation round took place in Brussels at the end of May 2018 On June 2018, the EU published new texts to be discussed with Chile.
Mercosur Although progress on several chapters was made during the meetings negotiators held in November and December 2017, the EU and Mercosur failed to conclude a political agreement at the end of 2017 as originally expected. Three negotiating rounds in February-March, June and July 2018 have not allowed negotiators to make enough progress. At the most recent negotiating round held in Montevideo, Uruguay, at mid-september 2018, only limited progress was achieved. Impact of the Presidential election in Brazil?
FTAs in 2018 and 2019 Japan concluded Mexico concluded Norway concluded Mercosur ongoing! China GI Agreement in final stages Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Chile moving forward
EU trade negotiations offensive defensive
Offensive and defensive interests Dairy, wines and spirit, GIs, processed agricultural products Beef, pork, poultry, rice, sugar TRQs, lengthy phase-in
Relation with the USA
Relation with the USA Trump called the EU Americas biggest foe Tariffs are the Greatest Trump tweeted before the Juncker meeting The EU is going to start to buy a lot more soy beans they are a tremendous market.. Trump tweeted just after the Juncker meeting @realdonaldtrump We have come to a very strong understanding and are all believers in no tariffs, no barriers and no subsidies It s freezing and snowing in New York we need global warming
EU/US HQB TRQ Review of the functioning of the existing quota to import hormone-free beef into the EU. Aims: two sub-quotas o USA country specific sub-quota o Erga Omnes sub-quota Issues for the negotiation with USA o starting quantities o ending quantities o transitional period and length Procedure o Formal negotiation with the United States (1 st Round: last week; Next Round: next week) o consultation with the other substantial suppliers (Australia/Uruguay+Argentina?) o EU Commission proposal to the EU Council and EP o Council decision and EP consent (Q1 in 2019)
Brexit/TRQs apportionment /Principle Objective: respecting actual trade flows through observed usage Consistent: in line with EU practice in WTO for enlargement, using most recent representative three-year period Unbiased: 2013-2015 best reflects the situation before direct or indirect effects of the UK withdrawal
Brexit/TRQs apportionment robust data sources The goal of the exercise is to reflect actual trade flows as accurately as possible 1. For First Come First Served administered TRQs the usage is based on consolidated customs data submitted by the MS 2. For License managed TRQs the consolidated licensing database is used
Brexit/TRQs apportionment (a)
Brexit/TRQs apportionment (b)
Brexit/TRQs apportionment (c)
Procedure Brexit/TRQs apportionment/procedure EU Process EU will engage in negotiations with WTO partners for each of these tariff rate quotas EU will be able to proceed unilaterally to dividing up the tariff rate quotas for the period between the UK's withdrawal from the EU and the conclusion of a final agreement within the WTO. This will mean: EP and Council Regulation on the apportionment of tariff rate quotas from 30 March 2019 onwards EU Commission implemented regulation on the quantitative references (from 30 March 2019) and guarantees and validity of licences issued by UK before 30/03/2019 No impact (status quo) during the transitional period in case of EU/UK agreement on the withdrawal UK Process UK notified its draft schedule of commitments to WTO members including TRQs as agreed with the EU Commission UK schedules replicate the EU schedules to the point that tariffs are in For both WTO processes: lengthy procedure
Brexit/TRQs apportionment Implementation Scope Implement the apportionment in COM(2018)312 final Structure of the working document: Basic legal provisions in the main text New quantities for EU-27 in Annex - Annex I: TRQs managed by simultaneous examination with licences - Annex II: TRQs managed by FCFS
Brexit/TRQs apportionment Implementation For the year 2019 the apportionment made on the basis of quantities available to licence applicants on 30 March 2019. TRQ 09.xxxx 01 Jan - 29 Mar 30 Mar - 31 Dec TRQ period: 01/01/2019-31/12/2019 EU-28 annual TRQ quantity (tons) 200 EU-27 % split 75% UK % split 25% Import licences issued by UK agency; validity date: 29 th March EU-28 tot usage: 28 tons EU-27 available quantity = (200-28)*75% = 129 tons UK available quantity = (200-28)*25% = 43 tons
Tariff Rate Quotas Administration Principles Review of the joint AVEC/COPA-COGECA/ strategy on poultry meat TRQs TRQs should benefit the economic actors Not an administrative burdensome system A flexible system, fit for purpose of: o under-subscribed TRQ o over-subscribed TRQ o within the limits of the International Agreement
European Livestock and Meat Trades Union