European farmers want the European Commission to strictly monitor Argentine biodiesel imports

In Belgium, Copa and Cogeca welcomed EU Member States approval of Commission’s package of definitive anti-subsidy measures against Argentinian biodiesel’s imports, during Trade Defense Committee held on January 30. Nevertheless, the approval of an import quota of 1.2 million tons in the same meeting in a Price Undertaking Agreement between EU and Argentina remains a cause for concern for Copa and Cogeca.

Copa and Cogeca are seriously concerned about the quota import provided for by the Price Undertaking Agreement adopted in the package, which allows the Argentinian industry to export 1.2 million tons of biodiesel into the EU market under a minimum import price. The volumes of Argentinian biodiesel imported to the EU have skyrocketed from nothing to 1.2 million tons since September 2017. This is because the anti-dumping measures that applied since 2013 have been reduced by the Commission to a non-protective level in order to comply with a WTO ruling. This situation has been harming European rapeseed producers as well as the biodiesel industry.