Carrefour will not sell “any meat from Mercosur”

Real support or perfect communication move? In the midst of farmers' anger, the mass distribution giant Carrefour has in any case just made an announcement which should delight them. He pledged to “not market any meat from Mercosur”, in a letter sent Wednesday to the majority agricultural union FNSEA in which its CEO, Alexandre Bompard, calls on “restaurant players” to do the same.

“Everywhere in France, we hear the dismay and anger of farmers in the face of the proposed free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur,” indicates the boss of the second player in French distribution behind E.Leclerc, very established in Latin America.

In a letter addressed to Arnaud Rousseau, the president of the FNSEA, and published on his account that his company undertakes to “not market any meat from Mercosur”.

Asked about the volumes concerned, the distributor specified that 96% of the beef and pork it sold came from France. “We hope to inspire other players in the agri-food sector,” says Alexandre Bompard, believing that “it is by coming together” that it will be possible to reassure the fact “that there will be no possible circumvention “.

French farmers consider French agriculture threatened by the free trade agreement that the EU is negotiating with Latin American Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay).

Our file on the anger of farmers

While Mercosur would export agricultural products to the EU first (beef, poultry, pork, honey, sugar, etc.), producers denounce unfair competition conditions, these foodstuffs not meeting the same environmental and social standards as in Europe, even health in the event of failing controls.