COTANCE joins call for ratification of EU-Mercosur deal
Europe’s principal leather industry representative body COTANCE has joined 22 other associations to call on European Union authorities to conclude and ratify a proposed trade agreement with Mercosur.
With its headquarters in Montevideo, Mercosur is a trading bloc. Its full members are are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Seven other South American countries are associate members.
After 20 years of negotiations, Mercosur and the EU reached agreement in principle on a free-trade agreement in 2019, but the terms of the agreement have not been finalised.
COTANCE said that, for leather, this agreement would offer a chance to reinforce a partnership with a region that is one of the world’s largest supplier of hides, skins and leather.
It added that, if ratified in time, the free-trade agreement could also make it easier for leather manufacturers in Europe to meet new rules for avoiding links to deforestation, which are scheduled to come into force in 2025.
“The deal goes beyond trade,” COTANCE said. “It is an economic, social and geopolitical imperative for the EU. In economic terms, it means access to key raw materials, the creation of tens of millions of jobs in Europe, strengthening rural areas and access to a market of 270 million consumers.”
