News in brief: Australia has abandoned trade talks with the European Union for a second time in three months, jeopardising any potential agreement, primarily due to disagreements on agriculture products.
Australia has walked away from talks with the European Union (EU) on a free trade deal for the second time in three months, a news story says. This latest decision seriously jeopardises any agreement and pushes it into next year or beyond.
The talks collapsed over disagreements on agriculture, with Australia demanding better access to the EU market for its farm products. Meanwhile, the EU, for its part, insists that Australia recognise more of its geographical indication (GI) names, such as feta and prosecco.
A GI name is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and qualities. For example, feta cheese must be produced in Greece in order to be labeled as feta. The EU has registered hundreds of GI names for its food and wine products, and it is very protective of them.
However, Australia has argued that recognising EU GIs would be unfair to its local farmers and producers. The government added that the EU is not offering enough access to its market for its agricultural products like beef, sheep, dairy, and sugar.
The European Commission has said that Australia had re-tabled agricultural demands that did not reflect recent negotiations and progress made between senior officials. It claimed that it stands ready to continue negotiations but industry analysts believe that there is still a significant gap between the two sides on key issues.
The collapse of the trade talks is a setback for both parties. A free trade deal would have significantly boosted trade between their economies and created jobs. However, it is now clear that both sides will need to make more concessions if they want to reach an agreement.
The failure to reach common ground has raised questions as to how the United Kingdom succumed to Australia’s demand in a similar trade deal in some cirlces.
Want to understand why the EU and Australia didnât agree a trade deal, while the UK and Aus did? The EU felt the terms on the table left the continentâs farmers unduly exposed. The UK government was, shall we say, somewhat less concerned about the same issue for British farmers.
— Nick Tyrone (@NicholasTyrone) October 29, 2023
Some social commentators believe that EU is refusing to open its markets to more competition as well. As it stands, governments on either side will have to help their farmers compete with foreign products when they eventually sign the deal or it may never be completed.
