Argentina could join EU-Mercosur trade deal later - Brazil farm chief
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Brazil would prefer free-trade talks between the European Union and South American bloc Mercosur to include Argentina, but would be prepared to proceed without its regional ally, according to the head of Brazil's farming confederation.
Katia Abreu, president of the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock and a Brazilian senator, said Brazilian business in particular was united in its support of an EU-Mercosur trade deal 15 years after the first talks.
Fellow Mercosur members Uruguay and Paraguay are also ready for a deal. However, it is not clear whether Argentina, one of the most protectionist members of the G20 group of major economies, will join in opening up to greater EU imports.
"Argentina today is a stumbling block," Abreu, whose Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) is part of President Dilma Rousseff's ruling coalition, told a news briefing.
Mercosur members are set to meet on March 7 to discuss the extent to which they could lift tariffs on EU imports. Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay have agreed to do so on more than 90 percent of goods, Abreu said. That level is considered a minimum for doing business with the European Union.
Argentina stood at between 80 and 90 percent, she said.
"We do not want to neglect Argentina," said Abreu, in Brussels for Monday's EU-Brazil summit. "We hope we will convince them, but maybe they will join at a later stage."
She said the chances were about 50:50 of Argentina pushing forward for a deal now.
EU and Mercosur negotiators will hold a meeting on March 21.
Abreu said her sector stands to gain from a free trade deal, with Brazil a leading exporter of soy, beef and poultry, but other Brazilian industries had been won round to the need for an EU trade deal after the launch of EU-U.S. trade talks.
"We perhaps have to thank the U.S. for this. That has made many in Brazil waken to the situation... It could create a huge bloc and leave others outside," she said.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Louise Ireland)
