The EU-Mercosur Agreement: Increasing Pesticide Use and GMOs, and Undermining Healthy Food Production and Standards

At the same time that the European Union is promising next-generation Farm to Fork policies and stricter pesticide regulations domestically, its support of the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement (FTA) continues with policies that exploit the more permissive environmental and health policies of its trading partners. This double standard could further expose vulnerable populations and the environment to toxic chemicals and undermine the movement toward more sustainable agriculture in both the EU and the Mercosur countries. Based on available information, if ratified, the EU-Mercosur agreement would:

• Increase exports of dangerous pesticides from the EU to Mercosur countries
• Risk an increase in pesticide-linked human rights abuses
• Pressure regulators to speed up approvals of genetically modified, pesticide-dependent crops and expand their cultivation
• Risk economic harm to the organic and agroecological farming sector in Mercosur countries, while undermining next-generation food, environmental and public health policy in both the EU and Mercosur

Read more factsheets on the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement here.