Farmers in the UK have warned the EU against a trade deal with Mercosur which could see Brazil and Argentina given access to the European meat market, potentially flooding the market with cheap imports and undermining domestic producers.
A trade agreement with Mercosur should not have to destroy the European beef industry, said on Tuesday a spokesperson for the European Community who added that such fears are ‘exaggerated’.
European farmers’ organizations claimed on Thursday that current trade talks between the EU and Mercosur could lead to a “total collapse” of the EU beef sector.
Paraguay overtook Argentina as beef exporter in 2010 confirming the country’s loss of leadership in the world’s meat markets, according to reports in the Argentine and Paraguayan media.
Chilean lamb and mutton 2010 exports mostly from Magallanes Region in the extreme south of the country increased 17% over the previous year according to the country’s Agriculture Studies and Policies Office, Odepa.
Uruguayan exports soared 23.8% in value during 2010 compared to 2009 which represent a new record according to the country’s Union of Exporters. Sales totaled 6.76 billion US dollars while imports to the month of October (the latest Central Bank officially available data) reached 6.7 billion USD, which represent a 18.6% increase in the first ten months of last year.
Uruguay’s beef exports dropped in volume but increased in value during the first eleven months of 2010, with Russia for a second consecutive year as the top client, according to the latest release from the National Meats Institute, INAC.
Uruguay’s exports jumped 23.3% during the first eleven months of 2010, anticipating a new value record for the year. Exports totalled 6.1 billion US dollars between January-November compared to 4.95 billion in the same period a year earlier and are higher than the twelve month previous record of 6.1 billion in 2008, according to Uruguay’s Exporters’ Union.
China and Argentina have signed agreements to allow the import to China of de-boned beef, dairy products, apples, bamboo and barley, China's quarantine administration said on Wednesday. However no mention was made of an expected deal on corn.
China will open its market to Argentine beef consolidating the end of a conflict that started earlier this year when Beijing decided to suspend “on sanitary reasons” the import of soy-oil from Argentina, a ban that was only lifted last month.