Farmers Get New Protection Against Cheap Mercosur Imports

The European Parliament voted on 10 February 2026 to approve new rules protecting EU farmers from a surge of cheap agricultural imports under the EU-Mercosur trade deal.

What the deal is: The EU and Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia) have signed a major trade agreement that lowers or removes import taxes on many products, including farm goods. To protect European farmers, the agreement includes "safeguard clauses" — emergency brakes that can temporarily raise taxes again if imports get too high and start hurting EU producers.

What this regulation does: It sets out exactly how and when those emergency brakes can be used for farm products.

Key points:

• The EU Commission will constantly watch import levels for a list of sensitive farm products (see below). It must publish a report on this at least every 6 months.
• If imports rise too fast or prices drop sharply, an investigation can be launched — within 1 month of a request.
• For sensitive products, the trigger thresholds are clear: a rise in imports of more than 5% above the 3-year average, combined with import prices at least 5% below EU domestic prices, is enough to start an investigation.
• Emergency temporary protection can be imposed within 21 days for sensitive products, or within 5 working days if a Member State asks for urgent action.
• Temporary measures can last up to 200 days. Final measures can last up to 2 years, extendable by another 2 years, but never more than 4 years total.
• Paraguay gets special treatment — it is exempt from group-wide measures unless evidence shows it is also causing harm.

The list of sensitive products covered includes: beef, pork, poultry, milk powder, cheese, infant formula, maize, rice, sugar, eggs, honey, rum, garlic, ethanol, biodiesel, citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, mandarins), and several others.

Extra commitments from the Commission:

• Export audits in non-EU countries will increase by 50% over the next 2 years starting January 2026.
• A new EU Task Force will focus specifically on import controls for pesticide residues, food safety, and animal welfare.
• Work is underway to ban imports of products treated with pesticides that are already illegal in the EU.
• A review of animal welfare standards for imported products is also in progress following a public consultation that ended in December 2025.