Agriculture enraged

Mercosur agreement a “slap in the face”

(Bild: krone.tv)

The planned Mercosur agreement represents a huge problem for agriculture and is "a slap in the face" for local farmers. Lorenz Mayr, Vice President of the Lower Austrian Chamber of Agriculture, is firmly opposed to the trade pact, which was agreed upon decades ago. "However, if it does come, it will be urgently necessary to introduce origin labeling in all areas."

The economic situation in Austria and Europe is very tense. The agreement with four Latin American countries is intended to give the ailing European economy a boost. In future, a large number of goods are to be traded duty-free, including cars, machinery, textiles, spirits and wine. In return, the South Americans would be able to import beef and sugar at a reduced rate of duty.

(Bild: krone.tv)

"In my opinion, it is completely the wrong approach to give up other sectors of the economy here too. If we close sugar factories, if we close slaughterhouses in order to support the car industry, for example," says Mayr in the krone.tv live talk. "A devastating mistake for the entire business location in general."

"Agriculture is being pushed into the background"
99,000 tons of beef, 180,000 tons of poultry meat and 180,000 tons of sugar would come to Europe with the pact. "In the best case scenario, this would also be transported by ships using heavy fuel oil. That also means a huge environmental impact," says Mayr. The entire agricultural sector would be pushed into the background. But this would also put pressure on those areas that are upstream or downstream of agriculture.

"The sword of Damocles that is Mercosur is not just hanging over us, but over agriculture and the entire food industry," says the Vice President of the Chamber of Agriculture in Lower Austria. But there are also other issues that concern local farmers, such as crop protection. "We have our backs to the wall." For example, 55 percent of the area used for rapeseed production has decreased in the last ten years due to a lack of important active ingredients. "It is hardly possible to grow crops in the fall and bring them through the winter because the first pests are already attacking here - aided by climate change," Mayr provides an example. 

The availability of water with a forward-looking expansion of the infrastructure is also an important issue - you can find more information on this in the interview above.