EU Member States have supported a Commission proposal which seeks to amend an agreement with the US on the import of hormone-free beef, at a recent Trade Policy Committee meeting.

Within the proposal, the Commission made the suggestion to allocate part of the existing quota that is available to exporters from other countries, to the US. The aim of negotiating the mandate is identify an agreement which complies with the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

In 2009, an agreement was reached between the US and EU that allowed for the import of 45,000t of non-hormone beef. However, the US remained frustrated that other countries also had access to the quota.