MEPs largely approved, by 457 votes in favour, 140 against and 71 abstentions, a treaty allocating to the United States more than three-quarters of an existing import quota for high-quality beef, on Thursday 28 November in Strasbourg.
It is above all, a diplomatic victory for Washington, which, at 18,500 tonnes, obtains 35,000 tonnes within a pre-existing duty-free tariff quota of 45,000 tonnes of hormone-free beef (see EUROPE B12310A8, B12296A24, B12275A21, B11993A4). On the European side,...