(Photo: Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino)
The president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday (17) that he will talk, in New York, with the president of the European Commission, Ursula Van der Leyen, so that the European Union does not try to include in the trade agreement negotiated by the bloc with the Mercosur the issue of implementation of European law antidesmatamentoscheduled to come into force in December.
“They spent 30 years saying that it was Brazil that didn’t want to make the agreement. We decided, we have a proposal, don’t invent another argument to say that you’re going to make the agreement difficult,” said Lula during a meeting at the Planalto Palace to discuss the fight against forest fires in the country.
Last week, the Brazilian government sent a letter to the European Commission asking that the anti-deforestation law not come into force, claiming that the legislation harms international trade issues and violates the sovereignty of the countries affected by it.
European legislation, approved in 2022, provides for a ban on the import of products originating from areas that were deforested from 2022 onwards, even in areas where deforestation is legal.
The text includes seven sectors, the majority of which are Brazilian exports to Europe: meat, coffee, cocoa, forestry products (which include paper, cellulose, and wood), soybeans, and rubber. It also includes palm oil, the only product that Brazil does not export, but includes derivatives such as leather, furniture, and chocolate.