The European Union is considering applying EU standards to all agricultural imports
As the European Union (EU) considers applying its health and environmental standards to all imported agricultural and food products, the US Meat Export Federation and Cheyenne McEndaffer, Senior Director of Export Services, oppose the idea.
“According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), applying [EU] standards or regulations to an importing country solely for the sake of their application without clearly defined risks to human or animal health is not appropriate.
We [in the US] have some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world, but that's really dictated by voluntary and commercial practices at the farm level and third-party and regulatory standards at the slaughter level," Macandaffer said.
Along with a rebuttal from American farmers, concerns were raised from domestic European industry. McEndaffer adds that European producers and exporters have faced over-regulation for decades, which has led domestic industry to rely on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for heavy subsidies.
European manufacturers fear they are already facing an entirely different market and potentially new regulations, McEndaffer said. In addition, manufacturers in the export market can face retaliatory tariffs if many exporting countries are found not to meet WTO requirements.
Source: meatinfo