Russia: Trade War Imminent

The European Union has widened economic sanctions against Russia, as a strong warning against the crisis in Ukraine and not further destabilise Ukraine.

The new package of EU measures has already seen Russia react with their own sanctions, mainly focused on energy and agriculture.

Already EU pork and fruit has been targeted, as well as all Ukrainian dairy. If they extend this ban to all EU dairy, including Ireland, it certainly will have an impact on our internal market, with eastern European Dairy exports looking to market in the EU.

 

EU/Mercosur Update

The leaders of the member states of Mercosur recently agreed their common offer in the upcoming trade liberalizing talks between the EU and Mercosur, during the 46th Mercosur summit in Caracas.

While ICOS does see potential for our dairy exports in this fast growing region, the gains would be dwarfed by damage to our beef industry.

It is known though that outgoing Commission President Barroso is anxious to close a deal with the group before his term ends in October.

 

World Trade Organisation: India collapses latest deal

World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiators’ attempts to finalise the outline trade deal struck in Bali last Christmas collapsed last week after India insisted on agreeing a permanent deal on its subsidised food stockpiling as part of the pact.

The new ‘Doha lite’ deal as it was dubbed was designed to assist the flow of goods across borders.

The main focus of the Bali deal was to streamline customs requirements at borders, providing a particular boost for developing countries’ economies, but EU farmers, including Irish Dairy, were also set to benefit from improved access to under-filled tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for agricultural exports.

Some analysts view the current collapse as a spur for further bilateral trade deals like the ones mentioned elsewhere in this brief.

ICOS has been invited to Geneva by the WTO in early October to contribute to a stakeholder panel on Agri trade.