Red meat industry calls for fairer FTA with EU

The Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC) has called on the Australian Government to only sign up to a free trade agreement with the European Union (EU) if it delivers meaningful access for Australian red meat processors and exporters without built-in barriers to trade; otherwise, it should keep negotiating.

The AMIC said Australian meat quota holders and exporters to the EU have invested significantly over decades to establish trade with the EU and develop important relationships with European customers. Despite this, restrictive conditions such as inequitable quotes and high tariffs mean that the volumes traded are so small that most Europeans are unable to access Australian meat.

According to AMIC CEO Patrick Hutchinson, the EU FTA is Australia’s “one shot” to correct the unfair system faced by Australian meat exporters.

“Any deal must improve the tariff and quota access, while also not establishing new restrictions and barriers to trade.

“Australia’s negotiators have worked hard for years to get to this point on the promise that ‘sensitive’ products such as meat will be negotiated in good faith at the 11th hour. Now we are there, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity that is too important to get wrong.”

Hutchinson said that the EU looks set to get almost all the asks it outlined at the start of the FTA, but it is difficult to see if what is being offered to Australia in return is fair.

“Acceptance of a sub-par deal assists the EU in restricting its imports through a regulatory death by a thousand cuts and goes against the spirit of a ‘free’ trade agreement,” Hutchinson said.

The Australian meat industry has been developing the European market for decades, and if the deal falls short, it may put the red meat sector at a disadvantage for years.

“We don’t just want any deal; we want the best deal,” Hutchinson said.

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