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The Ministers of Agriculture of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, members of the Southern Agricultural Council (CAS), issued a statement in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, opposing unilateral regulatory approaches that are not science-based and that constitute disguised barriers to international food trade. The statement was made during the 52nd Ordinary Meeting of the CAS, held on July 10, 2026, with technical secretariat support provided by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
The ministers welcomed the European Parliament's rejection, on July 8, of a regulation that would have classified soybeans as a high-risk feedstock for indirect land-use change. Had it been approved, biofuel produced from soybeans would have been excluded from the European Union's renewable energy targets, directly affecting soybean biodiesel exports from CAS member countries to Europe.
During the meeting, the countries also discussed a common position on EU Regulation 1115 on products that cause deforestation —whose entry into force was postponed for the second time last December— and on European initiatives under discussion on Maximum Residue Limits and import tolerances for plant protection products.
The CAS, established in 2003, also defined other agenda items: a regional group insurance project for climate events (presented by World Bank specialists) and a PROCISUR report on climate prospects for the region's productive activity.
Chile marked its return to the forum with the participation of Minister Jaime Campos, who had previously held the position in 2003, the year the CAS was founded.
July 10, 2026/ IICA.
https://iica.int/es/
