The trade union of employees within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SIND-MADR) supports the farmers' protests and calls on the Romanian authorities to reject the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, which it says it poses a threat to national agriculture and food security.
According to a press release of the union, the Mercosur agreement is deeply harmful to the national interest and represents a direct threat to the safety and food security of the Romanian population, as well as a frontal attack on national agriculture and the Romanian food industry.
"Our position is also supported by the warnings formulated since 2022 by the representative organisations of farmers, including the Agro-Star Federation, which have drawn attention to the fact that the Mercosur trade deal will open wide the gates of the Romanian market for agri-food products from third countries, produced in conditions significantly inferior to European standards, throwing Romanian farmers into unfair competition, impossible to sustain," the press release reads.
The unionists point out that the effects of this agreement are predictable and devastating, such as the chain bankruptcy of Romanian farms; the loss of tens of thousands of jobs in agriculture and the food industry; the closure of processing units, the destruction of the rural environment and the collapse of the agricultural economy.
In parallel, the Romanian state, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has made huge financial and administrative efforts to support agriculture, the same source states.
Thus, Romania has reached a record level of absorption of European funds, of more than 5 billion euros, of which: 4.07 billion euros have already been transferred by the European Commission, and one billion euros are to be collected by the end of this month.
According to the same source, these amounts were invested in the development of Romanian farms, in increasing agricultural production, modernising the food industry and supporting the Romanian village.
"It is unacceptable and outrageous that, after these massive investments of public and European money, Romanian farmers are sacrificed through an irresponsible political decision, which cancels years of work, investments and efforts, and pushes Romanian agriculture towards generalised bankruptcy," the document also states.
Therefore, SIND-MADR stands in solidarity with the position of the Minister of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, and expresses its full support for all forms of union protest, the actions of professional associations of farmers and any legitimate approach to defend Romanian agriculture, the same source mentions.
The trade union representatives demand that the Mercosur deal is stopped immediate, so that the Romanian agricultural production will be protected, the population's food safety and security will be defended, and the national interest and the work of Romanian farmers will be respected, while also guaranteeing that public and European investments will not be canceled through harmful trade policies.
"The Mercosur agreement is incompatible with Romania's interests. We do not accept that Romanian agriculture is destroyed in the name of foreign interests. SIND-MADR clearly warns: If this agreement is not stopped, we will resort to all legal forms of protest, including large-scale union actions, to defend jobs, Romanian farmers, food security, and the future of Romanian agriculture," the press release specified added.
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