Oslo (AFP)

Norway, a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) bringing together four non-EU countries, said on Saturday that the trade agreement with Mercosur provided guarantees for forest preservation in the Amazon.

The Norwegian Minister of Economy, whose country holds in the second half of the rotating presidency of EFTA, confirmed the agreement announced the day before by the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, confronted with a rain of critics abroad for his management of fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest.

"An important theme (of the negotiations) has been the sustainable management of forests, including the commitment to combat illegal deforestation and protect the rights of indigenous peoples," said Torbjørn Røe Isaksen at a press conference in Oslo. .

The agreement - which has yet to be signed by the governments and ratified by the parliaments of the countries concerned - "is in line with Norway's desire for sustainable management, especially of the Amazon," he added. , quoted by the NTB agency.

In a statement, his ministry also said that the text provides "a mutual commitment to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement on Climate".

EFTA includes Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The four Mercosur countries are Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

The announcement came just days after Norway - and then Germany - announced the suspension of its financial contribution to the Amazon Fund, which helps finance the preservation of the "lung of the planet".

In Oslo, environmental groups and members of the opposition reacted strongly.

"We can not one day criticize Brazil for deforestation, and the next day negotiate a free trade agreement as if nothing had happened," threw the head of the Socialist Left, Audun Lysbakken, questioned by the public television NRK.

This trade treaty comes nearly two months after the conclusion of another free trade agreement between the South American bloc and the European Union, which has yet to be ratified by the EU member states.

France has threatened not to ratify it to protest the fire management by the Brazilian president.

And on Saturday at the opening of a G7 meeting in Biarritz (France), the President of the European Council Donald Tusk warned that an EU / Mercosur agreement was "difficult" to envisage in this context.

Finnish Finance Minister Mika Lintilä has announced that he will propose to his European counterparts the ban on imports of Brazilian meat.

© 2019 AFP