The British wine industry is not happy about the effects of Brexit on their trade. But longer term, prospects for British consumers could improve. “It’s a bit gloomy”, said Jancis Robinson, a leading British wine writer and Financial Times columnist. The British public will have to “drink less, and less …
Agriculture
Lords : Government “overconfident” on WTO agriculture deal
A new House of Lords report on British agriculture trade after Brexit calls on the government in London to seek a transitional arrangement with the EU to help British farmers adapt to a new environment. The key concerns expressed by farm groups include the future of agriculture subsidies, and …
WTO panel backs China in chicken quota dispute with the EU
The WTO’s dispute settlement panel has broadly endorsed a claim brought against the EU by China regarding a tariff rate quota extension for chicken. In 2012, the EU extended its WTO quotas to Thailand and Brazil, two major exporters of poultry. China, whose exports to the EU had increased significantly …
EU farm groups call for more controls on Brazilian beef
Update Friday 24 March 2017: the EU has asked Brazil to suspend its beef shipments voluntarily, to avoid having to impose a bigger import ban. Brazil has refused. EU meat producers are calling for more controls on imports of Brazilian beef amidst a local meat scandal, and for caution …
WTO appellate report strengthens EU case in pork ban dispute with Russia
Russia is probably regretting having appealed the first WTO dispute panel finding against one of its most politically charged trade tussle with the EU. In September 2016, the dispute settlement body in Geneva ruled that Russia’s import ban on pork products from Baltic states introduced in 2014 and extended …
EU agrifood export surplus at record levels in 2016
Since 2013, the EU is the world’s biggest food product exporter. New data released by the Commission suggest the export performance of the EU’s food sector continues to be strong, with the EU’s export surplus reaching € 18.8 bn, the highest on record, in 2016. Last year, the EU exported …
Wolf in sheep’s clothing: Britain wakes up to Brexit farming conundrum
From farm subsidies to New Zealand lamb imports to livestock trade at the Irish border: the process of untangling Britain’s agriculture sector from the EU’s trade policy regime will start early in the Brexit process and face daunting challenges, writes Iana Dreyer. Trade policy cognoscenti were aware farming issues would be among …
COM review of antidumping duties on Argentina and Indonesia biodiesel part of broader web of legal disputes
The Commission announced it was undertaking a review of its antidumping measures applied to biodiesel imported from Indonesia and Argentina which have been in force since 2013. The move is only part of a wider web of legal disputes regarding these measures. The announcement states that the EU aims to comply with …
EU farmers to receive more money for export promotion activities in 2017
Twenty billion euros more money to promote trade in 2017 compared to 2016, that’s what DG Agriculture is offering the EU’s farmers’ organisation to boost exports. The €133 million are earmarked to help farm groups hold fairs and other promotional activities to boost international sales of basic agricultural products and processed foods such …
Parliament readies to okay Ecuador accession to FTA with Colombia and Peru
The trade committee of the European Parliament is getting ready to greenlight Ecuador’s accession to a 2012 free trade agreement in force between the EU on the one hand and Colombia and Peru on the other. Ecuador’s accession process to the deal, initiated in 2014, dragged on as further negotiations with Peru and …
