EU-New Zealand agreement: another fatal decision for our agriculture!

Today, November 22, the European Parliament voted in favor of the EU-New Zealand free trade agreement (FTA) despite farmers’ organizations repeatedly calling to oppose it. This additional FTA, which includes agriculture, will further push the erosion of food sovereignty, farmers' incomes, climate change mitigation, and biodiversity.

The agreement includes the total elimination of customs duties on numerous agricultural products like kiwifruit, apples, onions, honey, etc., as well as substantial quotas on beef (10,000 tons), sheepmeat (38,000 tons), butter (15,000 tons), cheese (25,000 tons) and milk powder (15,000 tons).

How can the European Parliament be in favour of increasing trade on agriculture with the other side of our planet and at the same time promote a transition of the agriculture and food sectors in compliance with the aims of the Farm to Fork Strategy?

The European Commission's own impact assessment points to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions generated by this free trade agreement. Moreover, the agreement puts further pressure on pasture farming in Europe, although we need more animals on grazing land in order to protect cultivated landscapes and biodiversity.

ECVC calls to stop this blind belief in the dogma of free trade in agriculture. The EU farming sector is heading straight to the wall, and these FTAs are only accelerating the process! In addition, more free-trade agreements are in the pipeline, like the EU-Australia, EU-Chile, or EU-Mercosur ones.

These agreements are destroying any hope of re-territorialisation of our agriculture in order to support our regions, incorporate more farmers in Europe, and remunerate them through faire prices. Now is a very critical moment, and the current consensus in favour of even more free trade is mind-boggling and inconsistent.

On the contrary, the European Parliament should be protecting farmers and citizens from these deregulated markets and promote a reform of agricultural and food trade, compatible with the Paris Agreement and the rights for peasants to a fair income as recognised in article 16 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP).