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Last week, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that Ireland would consider rejecting a draft trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur. The reason for the rejection of the agreement is the spreading fire in the Amazon forest and the lack of activity of Brazil in the fire liquidation. According to Varadkar, Ireland cannot ratify the agreement if Brazil fails to meet its environmental obligations. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has identified as the culprit of the fire environmental organizations that are trying to tarnish his name. Environmental organizations, on the other hand, have blamed Bolsonaro's supporters to set up a fire in order to expand the area of agricultural land in Brazil. The Irish Prime Minister was also supported by French President Emmanuel Macron. France is also planning to reject the draft trade agreement with Mercosur due to the spread of the fire and the attitude of Brazilian President Bolsonaro. In this context, Finland is considering imposing an embargo on imports of Brazilian beef into Europe. On the contrary, Germany opposed the position of Ireland and France - blocking the trade agreement with Mercosur is not considered by Germany a relevant response to the spread of the Amazon forest fire.

Malaysia seeks to conclude a trade agreement with the United Kingdom as soon as possible after leaving the European Union, with a view to ensure sales for its own palm oil production. According to Malaysia, the European approach to palm oil is misleading - the European Union’s arguments to limit support for palm oil use are excessive deforestation and the destruction of the landscape and the environment where it is produced. At the same time, the European Union has, after twenty years of negotiations, put forward a draft trade agreement with the Mercosur countries, which includes strengthening access to the European market for South American beef. However, according to Malaysia, beef production in these countries has the same impact as palm oil production in Malaysia. Malaysia has therefore described the European approach as misleading and hypocritical.

A new study, conducted by scientists from different countries around the world, warns against the ability of forests to no longer absorb carbon dioxide emissions after 2100 if its production continues to rise uncontrollably. Forests currently absorb about a quarter of all human emissions. However, in view of the increasing use of fossil fuels and deforestation, maximum absorption limits of forests could be reached, which would mean that forests will no longer be able to contain carbon dioxide.
More information is available here.

On 13/08/2019, the European Commission issued Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1344 of 12 August 2019 imposing a provisional countervailing duty on imports of biodiesel originating in Indonesia. Customs duties have been increased from 8% to 18% and apply to subsidized Indonesian biodiesel - support for the Indonesian industry is received mainly through grants, tax relief, and access to raw materials at very low prices. These are provisional duties which could, if necessary, be converted into permanent duties. A review of whether or not to lift the increased duties should take place in mid-December 2019. The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), an organization representing European producers, welcomed the European Commission's decision. According to the Secretary-General of EBB, this is not a step to start a trade war with Indonesia, but a step to stop unfair trade practices that are harmful to the European manufacturing industry as a whole, in particular the renewable sector.
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The new French company Siga has proposed a new type of labelling to provide consumers with information about the degree of processing of specific foods. According to Siga, consumers should be able to better identify which products are natural and healthy and which belong to highly processed foods. The motivation for creating a new type of labelling is the ever-growing problem of obesity and its link with the consumed food and diseases. Existing types of labelling, according to the authors of the proposal, concentrate too unilaterally only on the final composition and calorific value of food, but there is no information on food transformation during its processing. The new type of labelling takes into account all ingredients and additives, resulting scheme ranges from 'unprocessed' to 'highly industrially processed'.
More information is available here.