July 9, 2010

 

Brazil seeks EU beef negotiations

Brazil is seeking to repeal an EU rule that requires a preliminary list of companies entitled to supply cattle for slaughter and export meat to the EU, while also calling for fairer criteria for sales within the Hilton quota for prime cuts.

 

The meeting between Brazilian and European authorities which has been scheduled on Monday and Tuesday (Jul 12-13), will be attended by the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Wagner Rossi.

 

The negotiations over Policy 61 surround who will monitor the certified farms. It is proposed that the same number of farms will be allowed on the list, but they should be monitored by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture and not the EU.

 

At present there are around 1,800 Brazilian farms qualified to export to the EU. Brazil is calling for a relaxation of the rules to allow more farms to export.

 

Any changes to the rule will hang on the outcome of the negotiations and then a decision by the European Parliament.

 

Before the rule came into place, Brazil exported 300,000 tonnes of meat a year to the EU. Now the volume is between 120,000 and 130,000 tonnes.

 

Brazilian Beef Export Association (Abiec) said that if they could get back to exporting 300,000 tonnes to the EU, Europe would become Brazil's main destination for beef exports.

 

Meanwhile, the country also maintains that the EU has changed the criteria for Hilton quota without consultation.

 

Brazil has a Hilton quota of 10,000 tonnes but since July last year it has only managed to export about 10% of the quota.