Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on the UK beef sector of the European Commission’s proposal to allocate a larger share of its hormone-free beef quota to the US.

The European Commission submitted a draft negotiating mandate to the Council for approval on 4 September. The draft negotiating directives specify that the Commission may offer the United States a country-specific allocation of a certain proportion of the annual tariff rate quota for High Quality Beef (also known as the EU 481 grain fed quota). They make clear, however, that negotiations should not increase the total volume of the quota or total market access into the European Union. As this nonetheless encompasses a range of potential outcomes, it will not be possible to make an assessment of the impact until the negotiations are concluded and the details of any allocation that may be agreed upon are known.