Cattlemen and meat packers in the US are ramping up the production of hormone-free beef to sell in the UK and throughout Europe even as legislators on both sides continue to wrangle over rules and conditions.

 

US beef producers acknowledge that even if the US government prevails in its decade-old case against an EU ban on US beef at the World Trade Organisation, EU consumers are not likely to eat meat produced with growth-enhancing hormones.

 

Part of the upsurge in interest on the part of the US growers was also that the domestic market for hormone-free beef is also growing and Europe is emerging as a plausible market.

 

In the first half of this year the EU imported 7,761 tonnes of US beef, a 179 percent increase from 2,786 tonnes in 2007, according to the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

 

Europe is also seen as a major market by other producers like Argentina, Australia, and Canada.

 

The USMEF vice-president, Thad Lively said within three to five years, Europe will be the second or third meat importing market in the world.

 

US producers believe their grain-fed cattle will be more attractive to customers than grass-fed products from elsewhere. Grain-fed livestock produce a marbled meat with fat interspersed among the muscle tissues, which results in a juicier and more flavoursome food.

 

Still, for US cattle producers and meat packers, entering the EU market would not be a walk in the park. For instance, the EU requires third party verification of all claims, as well as identification and traceability standards and an annual audit.

 

Leann Saunders, the president of third party verification company, IMI Global said although EU standards were the toughest in the world, the European market was still accessible to producers already in compliance with USDA's non hormone-treated cattle standard.

 

Saunders said almost 180 of the mainly larger cattle producers and packers have been certified, up more than 100 since spring.

 

Producers see that Britons and, to some extent, Europeans will buy cuts of beef unpopular with Americans, which means more money to be made per carcass.

 

While Americans prefer fast food such as minced meat hamburgers and steak, European consumer will prefer hindquarter cuts that are better suited for roasting.

 

However, imported beef is unlikely to become cheaper in Britain as an EU regulation called the Hilton quota, allows only 58,000 tonnes of beef to be imported from the US, Argentina and other countries tariff free.