But, despite the wealth of opportunities available with the TTIP deal, Copa and Cogeca have said there need to be concrete plans established to eliminate red tape and non-tariff trade barriers.
The announcement came after both parties traded offers on market access in the TTIP talks, with 97% of tariff lines included in the offer, according to a Copa and Cogeca spokesman.
Speaking at the meeting, Copa president Martin Merrild said: “We see opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic from a potential agreement, as the USA is the first client for EU agri-food products worth €15bn. But trade must be two-way and non-tariff barriers to trade removed.”
He added: “We still cannot export any substantial volumes of beef to the USA – only two member states are authorised – even though the US authorities agreed to allow the export of European beef to the US market. A potential agreement will also be more challenging for the livestock sector – beef, poultry and pork – which have been classified as sensitive in the market access offers exchanged in October.”
US must respect EU
On the issue of non-tariff trade barriers Cogeca president Christian Pees said: “We want to make sure that the EU’s high quality standards are not undermined – the EU’s ban on hormone treated meat must be respected, for example, as well as the EU system of geographical indications (GIs) which protects EU products from imitations.”
EU-US talks on TTIP are likely to continue. It was reported by Copa and Cogeca that the EU’s offer, submitted to the US on 1 December, was far more ambitious than that of the US Department of Agriculture.