by NADIA PONTES & LUCIA SCHULTEN
In the Belgian city of Ciney — a good hour’s drive away from Brussels — thousands of cows and bulls change ownership every Friday. Some of them have finished their career as dairy cows; others are young bulls or used to be breeding animals. They all are here to be sold to a fattener and afterward to the butcher.
The people at the market live from selling and reselling these cattle. Over the last three decades, the cattle population in Belgium has sunk from 3 million to 2 million animals. Many at the market fear the population will sink even further, and feel their livelihoods might be threatened if more meat is imported from Latin America.
“This would have a very negative effect on the price our producers receive, and this would discourage farmers from taking over farms,” said Benoit Cassart, secretary-general of the Belgian Cattle Trade Federation.
Cassart isn’t just worried about the future; becoming dependent on the rest of the world for food is also a concern. The reason for his unease is the EU-Mercosur trade deal.
Negotiations to create the world’s largest free trade area began between the EU and Mercosur states — comprised of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay — more than 20 years ago. In 2019, both sides reached a general agreement but since then concerns have been holding up the finalization.
An eventual deal would create a free trade area between the 27 member states of the EU and the Mercosur members, comprising nearly 800 million people.
Brazilian farmers see the deal as a business opportunity
In Brazil, cattle farmer Ellen Marina sees the trade deal as an opportunity. The businesswoman owns a thousand heads of cattle and three farms. Her animals are sold to slaughterhouses, which export directly to Europe.
“Premium, high-quality meat holds great value in Europe. That’s not the case in China, for example. We are hopeful that the European market will open up to Brazilian meat with the finalization of the agreement,” Marina said.
Brazil is the global leader in meat exports and has the largest cattle herd in the world, with approximately 224 million animals. China is the main buyer of Brazilian commodities, accounting for roughly two-thirds of the country’s beef exports in 2022. The European Union comes in second place, followed by the United States, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services.
With the EU-Mercosur trade deal, the Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Industries, ABIEC, expects the bloc to regain a position Brazil once enjoyed. Director Fernando Sampaio said a series of restrictions — mainly sanitary ones — imposed on the country by the EU led to a significant reduction in exports at the beginning of the 2000s.
“We hope that the agreement will pave the way for streamlining trade between the two blocs, while also creating conditions for unnecessary barriers to be removed,” he said.
Belgian farmers worry about the environment
On his farm in the Belgian countryside, Cassart breeds livestock himself — around 200 Belgian Blue cattle. Cassart is worried about the environmental impact of cattle farming in Brazil where, compared to Europe, he said inferior sanitary and environmental regulations are in place.
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