Brussels, 13/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - The continuing difficult situation of the beef sector was underlined in discussions at the meeting between Copa-Cogeca Secretary General Pekka Pesonen and Chairman of Copa-Cogeca's beef working party Jean-Pierre Fleury and high-level experts from the European Commission.
The beef sector is very fragile from a structural point of view and incomes are low, said Copa-Cogeca in a press release on Friday 10 April. Things are particularly serious for specialised beef producers as this is their only source of income. The situation was made much worse last year after the EU lost its main export market for beef, Russia. “It is therefore crucial that the EU finds additional new market outlets”, Fleury said.
Meat consumption is not growing in Europe and the beef market situation could be further destabilised by fluctuations in the EU dairy sector and repercussions in terms of surplus supplies of animals for slaughter.
Against this background, additional imports to the EU as a result of any trade agreement currently being negotiated by the EU “could also add extra supplies on the market, threatening EU beef production. This could have a serious impact in rural areas where there is no other source of employment”, the agricultural organisations warned.
In conclusion, Pesonen said the bilateral free-trade talks between the EU and US represented both opportunities and challenges. “The US is our number one client for our agriculture exports. However, we will remain vigilant and do our utmost to safeguard the EU beef sector and our particular production methods. Also, before making further headway in the negotiations, it is crucial to address sanitary and phytosanitary barriers”, he stated. (Lionel Changeur)