NPPC submitted comments in response to a Federal Register notice requesting input on barriers to trade with the European Union (EU). The comments support a comprehensive U.S.-EU free trade agreement (FTA), which is expected to be considered at an upcoming meeting of the U.S.-EU High Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth. NPPC stated it would support such a U.S.-EU agreement as long as the United States clearly articulates that it is determined to negotiate and implement a high-standard, 21st century agreement. NPPC’s support of a U.S.-EU FTA is contingent on the inclusion of agriculture as well as on negotiations addressing and eliminating EU regulatory and sanitary-phytosanitary (SPS) barriers to trade in a systematic way.
The EU represents a tremendous market opportunity for U.S. pork exports, with EU pork consumption totaling 20 million metric tons (MT) annually, making it the second largest market in the world for pork consumption. However, current EU tariff rate quotas (TRQs) amount to less than 1 percent of EU consumption and far less than the standard for minimum access of 5 percent set in the Uruguay Round. Additionally, the EU maintains numerous non-science-based sanitary and phytosanitary barriers on the importation of U.S. pork, including a ban on ractopamine, mandatory trichinae testing, prohibition on pathogen reduction treatments and a costly plant approval system. NPPC supports the expansion of current EU pork TRQs and elimination of SPS barriers through WTO multilateral negotiations or through U.S.-EU FTA negotiations.
Source: NPPC