Major step towards ending transatlantic beef dispute

ALTHOUGH at first glance a deal that will allow a 25,000 tonne increase in beef imports to Europe from the US may seem bad news for Scottish producers, the other side of the coin is a dropping of all trade sanctions Stateside for beef coming from Europe.

The European Agriculture Committee recently backed a report on the new trade deal drawn up by George Lyon MEP which hopes to bring to an end a long-running dispute over the EU banning hormone-treated beef.

Lyon said: “This was a win for both sides as the US wins concessions on extra imports while in return the EU keeps its ban on hormone beef and a lifting of US sanctions, which were costing EU businesses nearly $250 million a year.

“This dispute has been running for over 20 years and it is time for it to be put to bed once and for all. EU consumers were never going to agree to the use of hormones as a growth promoter in the production of beef.”

The issue in the dispute between the two trading blocs has been the US ban on beef introduced in the wake of the BSE crisis. Lyon said he had received a letter from the US secretary of agriculture Tom Vilsack confirming that new US BSE rules would shortly be drawn up.

“That would open up significant opportunities in the US market to exports of high quality beef from the UK and Ireland and exports of veal from the Netherlands,” Lyon said.