The Association of Poultry Processors and Poultry Trade in the EU (AVEC) has issued a sharp warning that the safeguard clause in the EU-Mercosur trade agreement is ineffective and offers no real protection for Europe’s poultry sector.
According to AVEC’s latest explainer, the safeguard — intended as an emergency tool to shield European farmers if imports rise sharply — is “designed in such a way that it will never realistically be triggered for poultry meat.”
A safeguard that cannot be activated
For the clause to apply, two conditions must occur simultaneously:
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Imports from Mercosur must rise by more than 10% year-on-year under preferential terms, and
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Import prices must be at least 10% lower than EU market prices.
AVEC argues that, given how poultry imports are structured and how the new tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) will be phased in over five years, these thresholds are practically impossible to reach. For instance, the EU imported 286,600 tonnes of poultry from Brazil in 2024, while the new Mercosur quota of 180,000 tonnes will be introduced gradually (+30k, +60k, +90k, +120k, +150k, +180k). Even with full quota use, the year-on-year increase would remain below the safeguard trigger level.
“An empty promise” for EU poultry
AVEC maintains that the safeguard has been constructed as a communication tool rather than a genuine safety net, allowing the European Commission to present the deal as “balanced” without providing actual protection.
The association warns that the EU-Mercosur agreement, if ratified, would expose EU producers to unfair competition, as poultry imported from Mercosur countries is not produced under the same environmental, animal welfare, and food safety standards required in the EU.
Without reciprocity of standards or mandatory origin labelling, AVEC stresses that consumers “will have no way of knowing when they are consuming Mercosur poultry.”
AVEC’s call to the EU
In its statement, AVEC reiterates its opposition to the EU-Mercosur deal and calls on EU institutions to “stop relying on empty safeguards” and instead implement fair rules, reciprocity, and transparency to protect European farmers, rural employment, and consumers.
Source: AVEC – An Empty Promise: The Mercosur Safeguard That Will Never Work for Poultry
