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As free trade talks between the EU and USA continue in the fourteenth round of negotiations held in Brussels this week, Copa and Cogeca underlined key sticking points in the transatlantic trade talks (#ttip) at a stakeholders meeting.
Speaking at the meeting today, Copa & Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen said. “Faced with a critical EU agricultural market situation, we want to look ahead and find new opportunities and better access to markets for our products. With the USA being the first client for our EU agri-food exports worth 19 billion euros, we believe that the free trade talks with the USA could provide an opportunity if there is a level playing field”.
“To start with, we want to make sure that the EU’s high quality standards are recognized. We also believe that three quarters of possible gains from a potential deal could come from removing red tape and non-tariff barriers to trade. EU dairy producers for example face big obstacles when trying to market Grade A milk products in the US which effectively stop our exports from entering the USA. The same situation applies for our fruit and vegetable exports.” Pesonen said.
“More progress is also urgently needed in the talks on getting recognition of the EU system of geographical indications (GIs) which protects our quality produce from imitations and misleads consumers. We cannot accept undermining the added value of our products.” Pesonen added.
July 14, 2016 - Copa Cogeca
