November 7, 2012

EU excludes South America nations from low meat import duties

The beef exporting nations of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay will not be included in the EU's future generalised system of preference (GSP) low import duty regime for rising markets.

Brussels has released a list of countries that will qualify for this special status and the Brazilians, Argentines and Uruguayans are not included, along with middle-income countries such as Venezuela, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and others. EU duties charged on many of their exports will rise as a result from January 2014.

A Commission note reflected that some limited drops in exports (typically in the 1% range) are expected for many of these partners. However, it added that this could be significant where trade was large, for instance with Brazil, which exported US$161 million-worth of bovine meat to Italy in 2011, US$142 million to the Netherlands, US$79 million, and US$33 million to Spain, according to UN figures.

Across the EU, European Commission statistics revealed that all member states imported EUR450 million (US$556 million) worth of beef from Brazil in 2011. As for Argentina, the EU imported EUR458 million (US$588 million) worth of beef last year although about half the volume of Brazil, at 60.8 kilo tonnes compared to Brazil's 100.7 kilo tonnes.

For those poorer countries left inside the GSP system, the Commission announced a string of products and inputs that would henceforth be imported duty free into the EU. This includes widely-used meat preservative and colouring additive sodium nitrate. It is found in bacon, sausages, hot dogs, ham, smoked meats and patés. This input is bought in major volumes; in 2011, the EU imported US$55.9 million worth from all sources in packs weighing more than 10 kilogrammes, says UN data. Artificial sodium nitrate currently attracts a 6.5% duty when imported into the EU from many countries, including those that will continue to be covered by the GSP regime after January 2014.

"The new scheme will be focused on fewer beneficiaries (89 countries) to ensure more impact on countries most in need," stressed the Commission, "That will include China, India, Vietnam, Thailand and many sub-Saharan African countries. If the newly excluded countries suffer recessions, they may be re-admitted."