Poland opposes the EU-Mercosur free trade deal with South American countries in its current form, the prime minister said on Tuesday, joining France in standing against an agreement European farmers say will expose them to unfair competition.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the agreement would expose European farmers to unfair competition, citing concern for his country's food security, an opinion that France representatives reinforced.

Poland's prime minister said on Tuesday that his government would not back a trade deal between the European Union and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries, amid resistance from farmers across Europe.

Poland will block the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement in its current form, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Tuesday. The deal, negotiated since 1999 and covering 700 million people across the EU and Mercosur nations (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Uruguay), remains controversial, especially among European farmers.

Poland is looking to join forces with France and Italy to block a trade deal between the European Union and Latin America’s Mercosur bloc that’s been a quarter of a century in the making.

Poland and France oppose the proposed EU-Mercosur trade agreement, citing concerns over unfair competition for European farmers. The deal, which Brazil is pushing to finalize, would open EU markets to South American agricultural products.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday he hoped a trade deal between the European Union and the South American Mercosur bloc would be signed by the end of this year, even as it faced opposition,

The European Union and four Latin American countries are preparing for a final push to clinch a controversial free trade deal that has been under discussion for 25 years. Backed by Germany and Spain,

The deal has been 25 years in the making and it aims to create one of the largest free trade zones in the world - but farmers in Europe are heavily opposed to sealing it, saying that they cannot compete with South American livestock producers.