This Beef Ban Stinks of Protectionism

From 3 September, the EU will ban imports of Brazilian beef under new rules on the use and monitoring of certain antibiotics.^[1] The EU says Brazil cannot currently guarantee that cattle destined for Europe have complied with those rules throughout their lives.

In response, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) in the UK has warned that this will lead to trade diversion and so the country will be ‘flooded’ with cheap Brazilian beef which will undercut British farmers.^[2] The government should, it argues, follow the EU’s example and ban Brazilian beef.

In the midst of this, some people who would like the UK to rejoin the EU have argued that this shows that Britain has lowered its standards since Brexit. Therefore, we need to rejoin the EU immediately to keep consumers safe.

While all three points may sound reasonable, they are wrong.

Start with Brussels

The whole thing stinks of protectionism. The bloc is already facing a backlash from farmers over its trade deal with Mercosur. French and Irish farmers have claimed that they will be wiped out by an increase in beef imports from the Mercosur countries. As such, it is very convenient that this ban is now coming into place.

That timing looks even more convenient when you consider Brazil’s scale. It is the world’s biggest beef exporter and dwarfs most of its Mercosur neighbours.^[3]

What is more, the EU’s new system hits huge producers such as Brazil particularly hard. It requires Brazil to show that cattle destined for Europe have complied with its antimicrobial rules throughout their lives. That is a formidable traceability burden for a cattle industry of Brazil’s scale, particularly when EU auditors have already found weaknesses in its monitoring and record-keeping.

Brazilian industry figures have warned that it could take around two years to regain access because of the cattle production cycle. If they are right, European farmers have just been handed a sizeable breathing space from their biggest competitor.

Finally, this latest ban is not the result of the EU discovering a particular contaminated shipment. It is about whether Brazil can satisfy Brussels that its monitoring system meets the new rules. Given everything else going on around Mercosur, it is hardly surprising that Brazilian producers see protectionism at work.

The NFU’s honest protectionism

As for the NFU, it has been quite transparent about its protectionism. It fears that Brazilian beef which would usually go to the EU will end up on the shelves in UK supermarkets, thereby undermining British farmers.

It’s a valid concern. Britain currently imports relatively little beef from Brazil, so even a modest diversion of Brazilian beef from the EU could produce a noticeable increase in imports here. But that does not make it a bad thing. Some of it would simply compete with beef we currently import from the EU.

A ‘flood’ of cheap beef would be a gift

Even if the UK was inundated with a ‘flood’ of Brazilian beef, this would be no bad thing. Free trade is such a good thing because it benefits consumers. In this instance it would mean greater choice and more competition, putting downward pressure on food prices. This should be welcome at any time, but especially when so many people across the country are struggling with the high cost of living.

A ‘flood’ of cheap Brazilian beef would mean more choice and lower prices — a gift to hard-pressed households, not a threat.

If British farmers do experience genuine hardship in the short term then they should receive some relief from the government, and there are always safeguards in place if things get very bad for them. However, the government would be wrong to cave in to pressure from the NFU and deprive British households of the chance to enjoy Brazilian beef.

The standards scare

On the final point, this is simply fear-mongering designed to drag Britain back into the EU. Those who claim that this shows the UK has lowered its sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures since Brexit are either misguided or being dishonest.

During the trade negotiations I worked on with the US, Australia, and New Zealand the media was full of stories claiming that the UK would lower its standards in order to get a deal. We repeatedly said this was not the case and that they were red lines in the negotiations. The end result? Britain maintained its SPS measures. Then came the talks over accession to CPTPP. The same crowd again argued that the UK would lower its standards despite the government making assurances that this would not be the case. Again, the UK joined the bloc while maintaining its high SPS standards.^[4]

Britain has not responded to Brexit by tearing up its food-safety standards. The difference here is that the EU has introduced a new set of requirements which the UK has not followed.

A Brexit benefit, not a Brexit failure

This situation reveals a Brexit benefit. The UK is more than free to follow the EU’s example when it comes to beef from Brazil (it shouldn’t), or it is free to chart its own path. The country has shown that it can strike trade deals while still maintaining high standards. It should continue to do so.

The EU may wish to put rocks in its own ports to ‘protect’ its farmers at the expense of its consumers, but the UK shouldn’t join them. Instead, it should welcome any influx of Brazilian beef and allow its people to reap the rewards of free trade.