Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 June 2019
570. Deputy Eugene Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if beef from the United States of America (details supplied) will be hormone free; the terms of the new agreement between Europe and the United States of America; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26917/19]
View answerIn 2009, the European Union and the United States concluded an agreement, revised in 2014, which provided for an interim solution to their long-standing WTO dispute regarding the use of certain growth-promoting hormones in beef production. Under the agreement, a 45,000-tonnes quota of non-hormone produced beef is open by the EU to qualifying suppliers, which include the United States.
Recently, based on an EU Council mandate, the Commission has reached an agreement in principle with the US and other substantial supplying countries that 35,000t of this quota will be allocated to the US, phased over a seven-year period, with the remaining amount left available for all other exporters.
The European Commission has assured member States that the agreement will not change the overall volume, quality or safety of the beef imported into the EU, which will remain in compliance with EU standards.
