Romania has voted for the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur states, which comprise Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, after additional provisions to protect Romanian and European producers, especially in the agricultural sector, were negotiated, along with other European states, President Nicusor Dan said on Friday.

'Under the agreement, which will lead to the creation of one of the largest free trade areas in the world, European countries increase their presence in an important trade region, and Romania will thus have the opportunity to export products exempt from the high customs duties that were applied so far,' the head of state wrote in a social media post.

He added that he had been actively involved, in recent weeks, in negotiations with the other European leaders, 'so that Romania and the EU have commercial benefits in important economic sectors, but at the same time that Romanian farmers and trade in agri-food products are supported.'

'For sensitive agricultural sectors, after successive discussions with European counterparts, we got a series of important concessions as against the initial form of the agreement. The agreement with Mercosur provides for the repeal of customs duties for 91% of all products imported from the EU, and Romania will be able to advantageously export products from important sectors such as transport equipment, especially automotive components, mechanical and electrical appliances and devices, metal products, textiles.'

At the same time, according to Dan, the new agreement will also boost Romania's exports of services to Mercosur and will increase the country's access to critical raw materials, an essential aspect from a strategic perspective, because it reduces dependence on other sources that can use this dependence as an instrument of political pressure.

'The considerable cut in customs duties on imports also offers opportunities to the Romanian agri-food sector. Of the European geographical indications that will be protected on the Mercosur markets, 15 are Romanian agricultural products. Limitations of liberalisation are foreseen, by capping the quantities that can be imported at reduced customs tariffs - for beef a maximum of 1.5% of the EU's annual production, for poultry 1.3%, and everything that exceeds these quantities will be imported against the customs tariffs in force today. At the same time, an additional protection measure was included by introducing a bilateral safeguard clause, which actually functions as a brake that can be activated at any time when imports of a product suddenly increase and endanger domestic producers,' said Dan.

That is, as he pointed out, 'we trade, but we also protect ourselves when necessary, including by imposing compliance with EU production standards for imported agri-food products.'

As for pesticides or other substances, everything must be produced at the high standards of the EU in order to be imported here, the president also showed.

In addition to the content of the agreement, including Romania's requests to adopt measures at EU level to support its own farmers, Dan said, the European Commission will advance for the Common Agricultural Policy an additional amount of up to EUR 45 billion euros from the flexibility margin.

'By lowering customs duties, Romania will gain new markets for exports, and our agriculture is protected. This agreement negotiated by the EU is an opportunity for Romania,' added Dan. AGERPRES (RO - editing by: Oana Ghita; EN - writing by: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu)