COTANCE in raw materials warning over trade deal with Mercosur
08/03/2018
In a statement at the start of March, the two organisations, which refer to themselves as ‘social partners’, said they understand that negotiations for an EU-Mercosur trade deal are now in their final phase. However, there is still no agreement, as far as they can tell, on “the promised dismantling of export restrictions and duties applied by Mercosur to hides, skins and intermediate tanned leather”.
The social partners then called on the European Commission to ensure a trade deal for the leather sector that “consecrates full reciprocity in a symmetrical process”.
They insist on the need to put an end to “the protectionist trade barriers” on raw materials from Mercosur and warned that, without this, a free trade deal between the two trading blocs will risk forcing out of business “a profitable EU tanning industry that creates wealth and employment in the EU and that is today a model for the world in terms of social accountability and environmental performance”.
Share this story:
