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EU-Mercosur trade offer ought to reward conservation, says Stanford professor

With the EUMercosur complimentary trade offer delayed for many years by European environmental concerns, a Stanford teacher has proposed a way to conquer a. logging hurdle: make tariff reduction contingent on. preservation progress.

After twenty years of talks, the European Union and the. South American bloc, that makes up Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay,. Paraguay and Bolivia, reached agreement in principle in 2019 on. an open market deal, but it was not signed due to concerns over. environmental safeguards.

Brand-new European legislation on avoiding the entry of. products from deforested locations was viewed as protectionist by. Brazil and the EU agreed to postpone implementation until completion. of next year.

Bard Harstad, teacher of political economy at the Stanford. Graduate School of Company, thinks that connecting the. tariff-reduction schedule to logging levels would benefit. both blocs.

Mercosur countries might see tariffs reduced faster if. their deforestation levels drop every year, and more. preservation will allay EU concerns, Harstad said.

This would be an incentive to reinforce conservation,. since a boost in deforestation could put the tariff. timetable back to no, with greater tariffs and even worse regards to. trade, he stated.

Harstad stated the EU-Mercosur trade deal, if ratified in its. current type, would lead to a larger market and broadened. agricultural output with associated logging in Brazil's. Amazon rainforest.

And yet, if the trade deal is not ratified, Mercosur might. export more to other countries with weaker or no ecological. safeguards, he said.

With minor adjustments, the trade offer can be used as a. carrot that inspires tropical forest preservation rather of. logging, he added.

The European Commission declined to discuss Harstad's. proposal, stating it is devoted to concluding the negotiations.

The EU focus stays on making sure that the contract. delivers on the EU's sustainability goals, while respecting the. EU's sensitivities in the farming sector, a commission. representative said.

Diplomats associated with the settlements stated the proposal was. impractical and questioned it could be acceptable to Mercosur. countries that would argue that the burden of environmental. protection would fall almost solely on them.

It would crash on takeoff. Execution would be. hell. How do you establish a practical relation between more. preservation measures and more tariff cuts? stated one diplomat. by telephone.

(source: Reuters)