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The European Commission’s three impact assessments on the Mercosur deal will be completed by the end of 2020, incoming European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan has said.
He told the Irish Farmers Journal after his hearing for his new trade role this week that “the sustainability impact assessment is under way”.
This study, plus the economic and cumulative impact assessment, are to be completed by “the end of next year”.
The Commissioner was grilled on Mercosur during the Brussels hearing, but said he understands the concerns of farmers about the deal.
“When you have to concede certain quantities of product, nobody in the agriculture community could be happy.
“By keeping TRQs [tariff rate quotas] as low as we could on beef, sugar, poultry, ethanol, I think we’ve reached a balanced outcome when we look at all the sectors in relation to Mercosur.”
Commissioner Hogan told the Irish Farmers Journal his top priority in the trade portfolio would be a reform of the World Trade Organisation.
“A reform of the WTO, because if you don’t have a rules-based multilateral system that you can adjudicate on disputes and have disciplines in the trade deals there’s no point in doing the deals, so that would be the first priority,” he said.
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