Exclusive: ISM and ProSweets 2025 open with major forum on Mercosur trade deal

The 2025 editions of ISM and ProSweets were opened in significant fashion, featuring a key forum discussion of the upcoming Mercosur trade deal between Europe and South America, reports Neill Barston.

Notably, the long-running saga of the trade agreement between the two continents that has been sought by the two continents for the past two decades now appears near conclusion, with a host of market segments set to potentially benefit from the landmark agreement.

The project, which was agreed in early December, seeks bi-lateral trade and investment agreements between the European trading bloc and its South American counterparts has been widely welcomed across industries, though has faced pushback from some quarters over concerns of whether trading standards would be maintained and all sides.

Fears have been expressed by some market observers and civil society groups including Greenpeace, that the deal places too great a strain on already stretched farmers at the heart of the settlement between the EU, Brazil, Uruguay,  Paraguay and Argentina.

However, there appeared a mood of cautious optimism from the panel assembled for the discussions today, with the mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker setting the scene in an opening addressed. She said: “Koelnmesse, has over 100 years of experience bringing people and industries together, across the border of countries and cultures and branches of economic activity.

“These days, ISM and ProSweets Cologne are continuing these traditions, and this is where Kolenmesse is also the ideal setting for discussion on topics such as the Mercosur trade agreement. Under the title of economic and social responsibilities,” explaining that the event this week would allow trade representatives from both the EU and South America would have the chance for an earnest exchanges of views.

Speaking at the panel discussion, Rupert Schlegelmilch, former director general of the European Commission, welcomed the prospect of the Mercosur deal.

He said: “The Mercosur  deal has been in the making for a very long time, and has a  very compelling logic, not only from an economic point of view, but we are very close to this region – people speak Spanish and Portuguese, and we have been there for a long time, We have a sense of values and cultural ties, and economic ties. We used to be the biggest trading partner there in this region, but that is now China.

Rupert Schlegelmilch (left of pic), former director general of the European Commission,

“So we are trying to use the possibilities that we have within a market that has been rather protected in the past to link with the Mercosur countries. Our strength is in exporting, and we have an agricultural surplus that total €70 billion, which is huge,” he asserted, noting that Mercosur did indeed bring some strong potential value all-round.

For his part, Aldo Cristiano (pictured second left in the main image), vice president of Caobisco, European chocolate, biscuits and confectionery trade group also noted the potential that Mercosur offered, offering strong economic benefits on both sides.

He said: “Our industry of confectionery is very important for European food trade, contributing significantly to the EU community, We’ve seen recently that the ‘competitive compass’ that came out recently, says very clearly that diversifying and strengthening are vital for continuing market access,” noting that an EU and Mercosur agreement would represent 20 % of the global economy, which he hailed as a ‘huge number’ and observed that the deal would give Europe access to markets that it previously had not been active within.

The panel also heard from Jaime Recena, CEO of Abicab, the Brazilian confectionery association, who saw the potential merits of the agreement, as did Bastian Fassin, of Katjes confectionery, who believed the full potential of the deal should be explored.

Bastian Fassin welcomes Mercosur possibilities

Meanwhile, Ms Professor Katharina Riehn, vice president of the German Agricultural Society, the DLG, noted that one of the key aspects of this major agreement would be that national standards in food quality must be maintained as a central aspect of its implementation.

 

 

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