A trade deal between Europe and America will inevitably have a significant impact on the EU meat sector, and in particular on beef, according to an analysis by think tank Farm Europe.

The two sides have been negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) for over two years, with the 11th round of talks taking place this week in Miami.

According to Farm Europe, the EU will have to open its beef market for hormone-free US beef by at least the 50,000t volume agreed with Canada in the CETA free trade agreement.

Any increase in imports will have an effect on the suckler cow sector, report author Luc Vernet said. Dairy cows constitute two-thirds of European supplies of beef to the common market.

This supply is influenced by the milk market, not by the EU meat market. Therefore, fallout from a TTIP agreement would bear on the EU suckler herd.

It should be expected that in TTIP the EU will also be obliged to grant significant market access to hormone-free US beef.

No single sector will be excluded from the negotiations, and it is illusory to think that the beef sector, or other meat sectors, would be the odd exception.

On the contrary, inclusion of beef and other meats is a necessary condition for the conclusion of TTIP from the US side, and the EU knows it.

The hard stance of the EU on banning hormone beef makes it even harder for the EU sector to limit concessions in access to non-hormone treated beef.