Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 10/22/18


The European Commission has been authorized to open talks with the United States over the EU’s imports of “high quality,” hormone-free beef from U.S. producers, the Commission said in a news release posted on its website.

The talks are intended to address a long-festering issue between the governments regarding a quota for hormone-free beef that was agreed to in 2009. Over the years, a growing percentage of that allocation has been used to import beef from other countries, including Uruguay and Australia.

The authorization opens the doors for formal negotiations, but informal talks have been ongoing for months, Erin Borror, economist for the U.S. Meat Export Federation, told Meatingplace.

“We are optimistic that we are closer to the end game but several steps still remain,” she said.

The negotiations are not intended to change the amount of hormone-free beef being imported to the EU, only how the total tariff rate quota of 45,000 tons is allocated among exporting countries. The Commission also noted that hormone-free beef imports are not part of the wider discussions on improving EU-US trade relations that were launched in July.

“Nevertheless, finding a mutually beneficial solution to our longstanding dispute over beef would be a major step forward in improving our trade cooperation,” the Commission stated.

While the tonnage involved in the actual negotiations is small in the context of international beef trade, the fact that formal discussions are moving forward “does send a signal certainly that we continue to work together to improve” trade relationships in general between the U.S. and the EU, Borror said.

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