Farmers warn: the EU-Mercosur agreement will generate "unfair competition"

PalmThe Association of Organic Agricultural Production of Mallorca (Apaema) reaffirmed its opposition to the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur signed this Friday and warned of the "clear unfair competition" it will generate.

According to the association, the pact could open the door to the "massive importation" of agricultural products produced with social, environmental, and health standards "far lower than those required of European farmers." This will generate, as they explained, a "clear situation of unfair competition" and will have particularly detrimental effects on organic farming and family farms. With the signing of the agreement, the warnings they had already issued "are not only confirmed but have provoked a strong response from the agricultural sector." Peasant revolt

Apaema has expressed its support for the actions of the Catalan Farmers' Revolt, stating that it "fully shares their demands and denounces that this model of trade policy sacrifices local farmers, agroecology, and food sovereignty." According to the association, this is done "for the benefit of a globalized market that disregards both the land and the people who cultivate it."

"The EU-Mercosur agreement jeopardizes the future of the agriculture we want to defend in Mallorca—an agriculture close to the land, based on ecological criteria, with fair prices, and capable of guaranteeing the population healthy, high-quality food," the organic farmers emphasized. Since they believe that accepting this treaty would mean "deepening a model that penalizes those who do things right," Apaema has urged European institutions to stop it and commit to trade policies that are "consistent with the environmental, social, and food objectives they claim to defend."