Answer given by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis on behalf of the European Commission
10.3.2021
There is no evidence that COVID-19 is spread through the trade of food or transmitted by food or food packaging[1]. The EU has conveyed its concerns to China that the COVID-19 related measures on food imports may not be in line with the World Health Organisation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation guidance and not consistent with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, as the measures do not appear to be based on science.
The Commission also communicated its reservations against the current policy of China through different channels and on various occasions, for example in a letter jointly signed by the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety and the former Commissioner for Trade on 7 July 2020 and through comments on China’s notification[2] to the WTO of measures on cold-chain food related to COVID-19.
The Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), for which the EU and China reached political consensus on 30 December 2020, is not in force yet as it needs to be approved by the European Parliament and the Council . However, measures affecting trade in goods like the ones addressed here are not covered under the CAI, which will, once in force, only regulate bilateral investment.
The Commission will continue to monitor and assess developments and react in close coordination with Member States to avoid that unjustified trade restrictions on grounds of COVID-19 are maintained, using all the available channels of communication with China.