EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan, has today announced that beef will not be part of the current Mercosur trade deal negotiations.
The news follows today’s meeting between the Commissioner and NFU Cymru, which was held on Glamorgan NFU Cymru Chairman, Abi Reader’s mixed family farm, in the Vale of Glamorgan.
A trade deal with the Mercosur bloc would have seen 78,000 tonnes of non-tariff beef imported into the EU, from countries such as Argentina and Brazil.
At the meeting, Commissioner Hogan said that South American beef would be ‘off the menu’ and would be withdrawn from the current negotiations with the Mercosur trading bloc.
In recent months, farming unions across the UK have been lobbying the Commission directly on this issue with the NFU team in Brussels, highlighting the potential damaging impact that this deal could have on specialist beef production in Wales.
Undermining high local meat standards with imports
NFU Cymru President, Stephen James said: "Today’s announcement from Commissioner Hogan is reassuring for the Welsh beef sector.
"NFU Cymru has had major concerns with regard to the impact that nearly 80,000 tonnes of additional non-tariff beef would have on beef prices across the EU.
"In Wales we pride ourselves on the production of high quality beef produced to world leading standards and we were concerned that this was going to be undermined by a flood of imports that may not have been produced to the same standards."
Further discussions during the meeting included the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and NFU Cymru members highlighted the need for CAP simplification to remain at the top of the Commissioner’s agenda.
Rob Reader, who farms in partnership with Abi, presented to Mr Hogan the hundreds of pages of guidance associated with the 2016 Single Application Form (SAF), as an example of the complication and bureaucracy that needs to be tackled.
Mr Hogan said his desire is to help people comply with the regulations not catch them out.
NFU Cymru Milk Board Chairman, Aled Jones, highlighted the cash flow crisis that has engulfed the dairy industry in Wales.
He urged the Commissioner to consider further how the European Investment Bank (EIB) could be employed to ensure that farmers could continue to invest in their businesses at this difficult time.
The Commissioner recognised the horrors that the dairy industry is currently experiencing and stated that he felt that the EIB, working with High Street banks, could have a role to play in helping to provide low cost loans to help farmers restructure their business, in particular those who do not have a strong asset base.
Stephen James concluded by thanking the Commissioner for taking the time to visit Wales and listening to the concerns of Welsh farmers, he said: "This is the second time in under a year that the Commissioner has visited Wales.
"We welcome the level of engagement that we have with the Commissioner and his team, both through his visits to Wales and the willingness to meet with us regularly in Brussels.
"The Commissioner has fully recognised the market difficulties we face at present and he has shown today with his statement on the Mercosur trade deal, he is willing to take action to support the best interests of our farmers."
