By André Ricardo Passos de Souza for Agroclima
In a recent speech at the BRICS meeting, the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil addressed the issue of the Green Deal, stating that: “We cannot accept a green neo-colonialism that imposes trade barriers and discriminatory measures under the pretext of protecting the environment.”
It’s worth a parenthesis here to explain to Agroclima readers:
The European Green Deal, in fact, represents a series of requirements, measures and regulations issued by the countries of the European Union (EU) and within the scope of the EU’s own governance to restrict the entry into European countries of products, basically agribusiness commodities such as cocoa, coffee, meat, soybeans and others, produced in areas that do not comply with European environmental legislation and the environmental legislation of the countries in which they are produced for export to European countries. All this so that by 2050 the EU meets its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 55% (fifty-five percent) compared to emission levels in 1990.
Of course, Brazil, the world’s largest producer of several of these agricultural products, and also Brazilian rural producers, are consequently in the “crosshairs” of this legislation which, in truth, as the president of the republic has just pointed out, aims to create trade restrictions for some agricultural products based on supposed production non-compliance which sometimes even includes legal actions authorized by the environmental legislation of the countries of origin of the products covered for rural production in full compliance with the environmental and forestry legislation of many of these countries.
It’s also important to say that the issue is very relevant for Brazilian agribusiness since we’re talking about a market, the EU, which is the destination of around 20% (twenty percent) of all Brazilian agricultural exports.
This is because, according to the latest official surveys, this regulation, which will come into full force in 2024, indicates that in order for agricultural products to continue to be sold (and exported) to EU countries after this “package of measures” comes into force, they must be produced in areas with zero deforestation (even when authorized and legal in producing countries that produce within standards of serious environmental governance and with permits, etc).
In addition, which in itself represents a challenge for those who produce and comply with environmental standards in the various spheres of the federation, the directives indicate restrictions for some pesticides, with a reduction in the use of fertilizers with greater nutrient fixation, a reduction in antimicrobials in livestock farming, in addition to considering methane emissions from livestock farming – which has already been done on a large scale in the country – even with the possibility of being surcharged for supposed “carbon leakage”.
In other words, despite the fact that the European requirement to comply with standards that demand environmental compliance from producers, importers and exporters of agricultural products is, in theory, more than welcome, especially in an international context in which climate change can be treated as a “fact” resulting from a worldwide scientific consensus, the excessive “openness” of the regulations in accordance with the above directives, combined with the effect of “extraterritoriality”, could create unusual situations in various producing countries, such as for producers in Brazil, and thus jeopardize the production and supply of food, fibers and renewable energy to the world, resulting, in the end, in a larger rather than smaller “carbon footprint” in the global production chains for these products.
We can say from this observation that potentially small producers who, despite complying with local environmental legislation and the best production practices in their respective countries, may have to stop placing their products on the market regularly after 2024 since, in theory, they would be failing to comply (and unknowingly!) with European regulations, having a major impact on the supply and production of food, fibers and renewable energy in a world that is increasingly in need of these products made with the utmost rigor and respect for environmental laws. In popular parlance, “the shot could backfire” and have a negative effect on the world as a whole, as opposed to a supposedly beneficial effect on Europe.
It is notable that with the advent of the European Green Deal we are facing new market parameters and, therefore, new times for international trade and for the global chains of many of the agricultural products that are widely produced and traded in the world, but that, certainly, these regulations can and should raise concerns for producer countries – which should engage with international bodies to question the indiscriminate and extraterritorial application of these regulations – since the world needs to produce these products in abundance and with respect for environmental standards and also for the global climate pacts.
Available at: The European Green Deal: what you need to know (climatempo.com.br)