April 11, 2012

EU ministers have supported a free trade deal with Columbia and Peru, which has benefits for dairy exporters.

Once approved by the European Parliament, the deal would remove custom duties and enhance market access for many agricultural products which were previously highly taxed, including dairy.

The agreement, once in force, would allow up to 500 tonnes of dairy products to enter the Columbian market duty free each year. This represents an increase of around 10%. Tariffs for butter and fresh cheeses however will not see any reductions.

EU exports of dairy products to the two countries totalled 66,500 tonnes in 2011 worth approximately EUR14.7 million (US$19.2 million), representin 2% and 1.6% of total dairy export volumes value respectively.