Romania supports the opening of the external markets within the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, but requests efficient protection mechanism for sensitive sectors, especially livestock farming, Secretary of State with the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry (MADR) Violeta Musat said on Tuesday at a specialist conference.

'Today we are talking about sustainability in an increasingly global commercial context and the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur is undoubtedly one of the most relevant files in this equation. We know very well that the European Union is one of the largest agri-food exporters in the world and Romania has a major agricultural potential and endorses the opening of external markets. However, this opening of external markets must be carried out with very clear rules because the European farmers operate under the most strict standards in the world and I'm referring here to: food safety, traceability, use of phytosanitary substances, animal welfare, environment protection and emission reduction. All these entail additional costs, investments, technological adaptation - and so it is natural to ask the legitimate question: How do we make sure that the imported products are observing comparable standards? Sustainability cannot be implemented selectively only for the European producers,' Violeta Musat mentioned at the Romanian Sustainability Forum, organized by the Financial Intelligence.

According to her, the safeguard clause must be activated quickly, imports monitoring must be transparent and the sanitary and phytosanitary standards must be enforced rigorously.

'The EU-Mercosur stipulates quotas for certain products, including poultry meat, beef, sugar and ethanol, and from a macroeconomic perspective the percentages may appear relatively small at European level, however the impact is not distributed evenly. For certain member states and for certain sectors, especially livestock farming, competitive pressure is real, and Romania has a livestock farming that is still consolidating with recent investments in processing, in genetics and modernization, and in this context, our standpoint is very clear. Any commercial agreement must include functional protection mechanisms. The safeguard clause must be activated quickly, import monitoring must be transparent, sanitary and phytosanitary standards must be enforced rigorously,' the state secretary added.

In her view, the discussion about Mercosur is also about the environment.

'The European Union imposes farmers to reduce the use of pesticides, biodiversity protection, environmental conditionalities within the common agricultural policy, strict requirements regarding deforestation. And, in this context, it is natural that European citizens and European farmers demand guarantees, that the imported products do not come for practices that in fact run counter these objectives,' Violeta Musat also said.

She believes that it is important for the opportunities of the Mercosur agreement to also be recognised, taking into account the access to a market of over 250 million of consumers can mean investments, partnerships, however 'these partnerships must be capitalized on only if our sector remains competitive and stable.'

Therefore, competitiveness does not mean only price. Competitiveness means quality, food safety, high standards and trust, the secretary of state also said.

'Romania is investing heavily in agri-food processing, in modernizing farms and strengthening short supply chains, which is why our standpoint is a balance and responsible one. We support commercial dialogue, we endorse diversity of external relations of the European Union, but we request clear guarantees for sensitive sectors. We request the rigorous enforcement of sanitary and environment standards, we demand rapid intervention mechanisms in the event of major unbalances on the market. It is an approach which protects farmers without isolating the European economy. Sustainability does not mean closing the borders, but neither can it mean making producers vulnerable, given that they observe the highest standards in the worlds,' Musat mentioned.

'Precisely that is why the Mercosur agreement is a test for the European Union's capacity to harmonize free trade, environment protection, economic competitiveness and food security. Romania endorses a balanced approach, it will continue to actively contribute to the debate on the EU-Mercosur agreement, but, at the same time, our country has a very clear goal,' the dignitary mentioned.

Agriculture must remain a strong, competitive, sustainable agriculture, but under conditions of fair competition, she believes.

'The standpoint of the Ministry of Agriculture has always been the same and we continue to uphold it. We have never said no to trade. We are open to trade, but not to double standards. We protect our farmers, we protect consumers, the 450 million consumers in the European Union, we produce food to very high quality standards and, precisely for this reason, the EU-Mercosur agreement has been sent to the Court of Justice of the European Union to determine whether it truly complies with the EU treaties, whether it protects European farmers in line with the standards imposed by the European Union and whether it avoids causing major market disruptions,' Musat mentioned.

The representative of the MADR argued that the mechanism regarding the safeguard clause is rather slow and mechanisms need to be found in order to prevent dumping.

'After the Mercosur agreement was published, we requested some clauses and a safeguard clause was introduced, but it is a rather slow mechanism. In order to apply the safeguard clause, it is possible that I already have a major impact on the market, my farmers will be affected by the entry of these products into the country, we may end up with dumping - and then we really need to find some prevention mechanisms,' Violeta Musat added.

Representatives of the central public authority, waste management associations and companies are participating on Tuesday in the new edition of the Romanian Sustainability Forum event, organized by the Financial Intelligence. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Nicoleta Banciulea; EN - writing by: Rodica State)