Quick Take — The EU-Mercosur agreement is likely to enter into force provisionally from March, says an EU diplomat

The EU’s free trade agreement with South American countries is likely to be provisionally implemented as early as March, an EU diplomat told Reuters on Thursday, despite an imminent challenge to the EU Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, EU lawmakers dealt a blow to the controversial trade deal with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay by referring it to the European Court of Justice, threatening to delay its entry into force by two years.

“The EU-Mercosur agreement will be provisionally applied once the first Mercosur country has ratified it,” an EU diplomat told Reuters.

“It will probably be Paraguay in March,” the diplomat added.

Quick Take — Mercosur: MEPs vote in favour of referring the agreement to the EU Court of Justice

A treaty that, according to its critics, will disrupt European agriculture.

It should allow the EU to export more cars, machinery, wines and spirits to Latin America, while facilitating the entry of South American beef, sugar, rice, honey and soya into Europe.

For its detractors, this will disrupt European agriculture with cheaper imported products that do not necessarily meet EU standards due to insufficient controls.

Quick Take — Major Brazilian grain traders abandon Amazon conservation pact

Abiove, which includes ADM (ADM.N), Bunge (BG.N), whose members include Cargill, Cofco and Louis Dreyfus, confirmed that it had ‘initiated talks’ to exit the pact, which is supported by the federal government and environmental groups.

The WWF said in a note that the decision was a setback for the environment.

The companies’ exit from the pact ‘weakens one of the most effective tools to combat deforestation in the country’ and exposes farmers to increasing climate risks, WWF said.

Reuters

Lusetti (Confcommercio): ‘Let’s not harass farmers. Price rises cause energy and climate’ (and raw materials)

The fact of not dealing directly with farmers CANNOT be a boast because it means that those who buy, in the large-scale retail trade, are not doing it well because they accept intermediaries and opacity in the purchase prices and margins of all the actors in the chain. Most probably, by negotiating directly with farmers, they could obtain better prices that would benefit their customers

Our relationship with FOOD over the last 100 YEARS has changed a great deal: how?

How has our relationship with food changed over the last hundred years? In the first episode of the docuseries “What We Eat”, produced in collaboration with @foodunfolded with the support of EIT Food and co-funded by the European Union, we trace the evolution of our relationship with food, which has been turned on its head in just one century

Quick Take — What the new decree on dealcoholised wine envisages and why the sector has been waiting for it for a long time

The decree comes after a long period of waiting [ and opposition from the ministry and Coldiretti ] by the wine industry and sector associations. In recent months, the issue of dealcoholised wine has remained suspended in a regulatory vacuum that has slowed down investment, experimentation and industrial planning, despite the fact that European regulations were already in place.

The trade associations had repeatedly called for an intervention that would clarify above all the fiscal and authorisation aspects, considered the main obstacle to the full operation of the segment in Italy. The lack of a framework on excise duties and the management of tax deposits had in fact created legal uncertainty for producers interested in developing dealcoholised or partially dealcoholised wine lines.

With the signing of the decree, the regulatory perimeter within which the sector will be able to move is now established, at least as far as tax treatment, authorisations, and operating methods related to production and storage are concerned.

The decree was signed by the Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida (below with Cesare Prandini, President Coldiretti)

The Caprotti family: from textiles – with Manifattura – to Esselunga

The Caprotti story begins with Antonio del fu Giovanni Battista (1685). The family’s origins lie in agriculture and textiles, until 2009 when, partly due to a sharp drop in orders, the company’s top management decided to close the Manifattura after more than 179 years of activity. In the meantime, the Caprotti family took part in the founding of Esselunga in 1957