"I do not have a very clear the volume reference, nor the year or reference year to calculate banana quotas. The banana producers and representatives of the regions in the EU have criticized this mechanism and have said it's impractical,"
said Bernd Lange Socialist MEP, authour of the report that is being prepared by the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament (EP).
This committee works to integrate stabilization mechanisms into the EU law clauses and safeguards in the free trade agreements with Colombia, Peru and the association agreement with Central America. These agreements were negotiated by the European Commission but still need the approval of Parliament to take effect.
Safeguard clauses prevent the possibility of suspension the agreement if, due to the liberalization of trade, goods are imported in such quantities that involve or threaten to cause serious injury to the European industry.
Moreover, banana stabilization mechanisms prevent preferential tariffs being suspended if a certain annual volume of imports are reached, until January 1, 2020.
According to the conservative Spanish MEP Gabriel Mato, who is making an opinion report on the matter from the commission of EP Agriculture, it is possible to improve the text of the safeguards transposition into national law without changing its "Substance" because the Parliament can only say "yes" or "no" to the text but not make any amendments.
Mato said that these treaties have "great impact on agriculture", and in particular for European banana producers which can be "very damaging".
He criticized in particular, that to activate stabilization mechanisms, fixed import thresholds have to be set with "a great increasing trend," when "the market has already suffered distortions", and that it can only be extended for three months, which in his view is inconsistent with the years that the agreement may be suspended if safeguards are activated.
He also requested, a "thorough monitoring" of imports, as well as exchanging information with the Union's industry.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Socialist Josefa Andres recalled that there are other safeguard clause precedents in other trade agreements signed by the EU, as in the agreement with South Korea.
MEP's urged the Commission to have a plan on the amount of bananas that can be imported, and to check the status of European areas where there is monoculture.
The conservative Spanish parliamentarian Pablo Zalba, reporter on the agreement with Central America, considered it necessary to have some safeguard clauses that are "effective, and easy to apply," and also that the Central American states
ratify the text "as simultaneously as possible" to avoid disadvantages between them as they will have to distribute quotas.
The representative of the European Commission finally described as "excellent" the agreements and recalled that the industry is "Accustomed" to compete internationally.
Source: ABC