December 16, 2005

EU ups beef trade offer at WTO talks
 

The EU has raised its trade offer at the current World Trade Organization talks in Hong Kong by including a planned rise in beef imports.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said the bloc plans to increase beef imports by 160 percent to 1.3 million tonnes annually, as part of its offer on agricultural trade.

Boel added that this move would follow reduced internal support for the EU agricultural sector, lower agricultural tariffs and increased tariff quotas.

She said the EU offer would allow the bloc's trading partners much greater market access. "I cannot understand how people can claim that we are not making a serious offer".

The increased import volume would be equivalent to about a third of total global beef exports.

However, Boel did not elaborate on when the move would happen or if any conditions would be attached to it.

The EU had earlier offered to cut its highest agricultural tariffs by 60 percent.