Canada and EU settle dispute on beef import restrictions following trade deal
European Union closed the door on imports of hormone-treated beef in 1989
Canada has agreed to drop a decades-old trade dispute against the European Union's restriction of beef imports thanks to terms in the recently enacted Canada-EU trade agreement.
The dispute goes back to 1989 when the European Union closed the door on imports of hormone-treated beef, leading both Canada and the United States to challenge the decision at the World Trade Organization.
In a joint statement posted to the WTO website Tuesday, Canada and the EU said that the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement that went into force last month was "conducive for finding a mutually agreed solution and settling the dispute."
- Canada targets EU imports in trade tiff over beef
- Ranchers have a beef with new A&W hamburger campaign
The terms of the CETA deal allows Canada to export 50,000 tonnes of hormone beef duty-free, while in Tuesday's release Canada agreed to suspend its dispute on the hormone issue while the trade deal remains in place.
Canada had been pushing for a large enough quota to make it worthwhile for producers to set up hormone-free herds, which are generally more expensive to manage.
The government had also looked for assurances from the EU that European governments would not set up non-tariff barriers to Canadian meat, using the back door to prevent Canadian products from competing with their own.