November 9, 20000

Four U.S. farm-related organizations say the beef industry is willing to consider "any reasonable compensation package" from the European Union for the EU's import ban on hormone-treated beef, but they doubt any such compensation will be forthcoming. Instead, they urged the Clinton Administration to rotate the list of EU products subject to retaliation, the so-called "carousel" approach. A total of $116.8 million in retaliatory duties is involved.

In a letter to U.S. agriculture trade negotiator Greg Frazier, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Meat Institute and the U.S. Meat Export Federation said the EU's offer to increase U.S. access to its market for "hormone-free" beef has "no value to our industry" if Brussels plans to cancel that action -- as EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy recently suggested -- before U.S. producers have a chance to take advantage of it.

"Recent statements attributed to (Lamy) suggest that any further U.S. consideration of the EU compensation offer on the table seems pointless," they told Frazier. The EU apparently intends to "hastily re-legislate its hormone directive so that it can claim that it is in compliance with WTO (World Trade Organization) rules."

Lamy also said any compensation would end at that time. "This implies that any new access for U.S. untreated beef would be very time-limited and ... would be effectively useless to the U.S. beef industry," they added.

The U.S. industry does not have an available supply of untreated, certifiable beef ready for shipment to Europe, the letter continued. Animals have to be tracked from birth to slaughter, and that means U.S. cattlemen would not be able to take full advantage of any new access for untreated beef for at least 18- 24 months after access was granted.

They also noted that the administration was to issue a modified retaliation list by June 19. Nov. 18 marks six months since the law was enacted. The law requires that retaliation lists be modified every six months.