France will not ratify a draft trade deal between the European Union and the Mercosur bloc “in its current form”, trade minister Franck Riester told AFP on Thursday.

The government wants guarantees on the protection of the environment and on health norms from Mercosur’s members Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay before it approves the deal that was agreed in principle in 2019 after two decades of negotiations, he said.

“We will not be satisfied with a political declaration on environmental commitments from the four countries concerned,” Riester said after a meeting of a French committee on trade which includes MPs, government officials, NGOs, parliamentarians and corporate leaders.

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