Italian farmers oppose EU-Mercosur trade deal: Italy's agriculture minister

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italy’s farm sector strongly opposes the trade deal that the European Commission reached with the Mercosur group of South American countries in June, Italian agriculture minister Gian Marco Centinaio said on Monday.

“We express a strong concern,” Centinaio told reporters in Brussels. He said he believed the Italian government would oppose the deal, which requires a majority vote from EU states to be approved.

He said the deal was like a “gun aimed at the head” of Italy’s farm sector, as it offered no guarantees. “There will be an invasion of products,” said Centinaio, who is a close ally to the far-right deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini.