US to increase beef imports to EU under new agreement

The EU and the US have signed an agreement which will review the amount of hormone-free beef the United States exports to Europe.

The agreement was signed in Washington DC by Stavros Lambrinidis, EU Ambassador to the United States, Jani Raappana, Deputy Head of Mission, for the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU, and Robert Lighthizer, US Trade Representative,

The move follows from a Joint Statement issued by the Commission and US in July 2018 establishing a positive EU-US bilateral trade agenda and helping to ease tensions between the two over trade issues.

In 2009, the EU and the US concluded a Memorandum of Understanding, revised in 2014, which provides a solution to a longstanding dispute in the World Trade Organization regarding the use of certain growth-promoting hormones in beef production.

Under the agreement, an order for 45,000 tonnes of non-hormone treated beef was open by the EU to qualifying suppliers, including the United States.

The agreement signed by the parties is in line with WTO rules and establishes that that 35,000 tonnes of this quota will now be allocated to the U.S., phased over a 7 year period, with the remaining amount left available for all other exporters.

The overall volume of the quota opened in 2009 will remain unchanged, just like the quality and safety of beef imported into the EU, which will remain in compliance with European standards.

The agreement was negotiated on a basis of a mandate from EU Member States and approved by them in the Council on 15 July 2019. The Council will now recommend the agreement to the European Parliament for formal approval, so that it can enter into force in the near future.

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