Agricultural
7 April, 2026
EU deal leaves red meat and other agricultural industries in the dust
A trade deal between the European Union (EU) and Australia, nearly ten years in the making, has finally been agreed upon, and while Australian wine makers can call their goods ‘prosecco’ for another ten years, not everyone is happy.
The new deal was inked by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President of the European Commission Ursula Van Der Leyen early last week.
Australia will get access to luxury goods, chocolate and cars, while the EU will remove tariffs on Australian critical minerals, manufactured items and dairy products.
Red meat; beef and lamb, grain and sugar have been left out.
Hopes for an increase of 30,600 tonnes of beef and 25,000 tonnes of sheep meat per year fell far short of expectations.
AgForce General President Shane McCarthy said the agreement fell short of expectations and highlighted the mounting pressures facing Australian agriculture.
“Across all commodities, there is a consistent concern that this agreement does not deliver the level of access needed to support growth in Australian agriculture,” Mr McCarthy said.
AgForce Cattle President Lloyd Hick said this outcome is deeply disappointing for the beef industry.
“The EU represents a high-value market, but without meaningful improvements in access, Queensland producers are being left at a competitive disadvantage against other global suppliers,” he said.
Back in Europe farmers also aren’t happy, even with the disappointing number of Australian beef secured to be tariff free in the new deal.
The deal will allow Australian producers to export 16,830 tonnes of grass-fed beef tariff-free to EU countries, with 13,770 tonnes subjected to reduced tariff of 7.5 per cent, phased in over 10 years.
This is well short of the 50,000 tonnes that was hoped for.
The 25,000 tonnes of tariff free lamb is also well short of the 67,000 tonnes of tariff free lamb producers were hoping to export to the lucrative European market.
Sugar cane is agreed to be exported tariff free to the EU for 35,000 tonnes, which has disappointed farmers and industry representatives.
“[It is] less than two per cent of Europe’s import requirement and well below what Brazil and its Mercosur partners secured last year, which was around four times larger than Australia’s outcome,” Canegrowers CEO Dan Galligan said.
This on the back of recent deals for the importing of beef to the EU with South America, New Zealand and Canada posing a huge threat to European producers.
That same competition is what Australian graziers have essentially been locked out of with the unsatisfactory outcome of the new deal.
“This is shaping up as a perfect storm for producers.
“A disappointing EU deal, ongoing fuel and fertiliser supply pressures and increasing regulatory burden through measures like the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act reforms are all hitting the sector at once,” Mr McCarthy said.
“At a time when farmers should be focused on producing food and fibre, they’re instead dealing with rising costs, supply uncertaint y and growing compliance pressures.” Mr. McCarthy added.
Grains, sugars and sheep, wool and goats have also been blindsided by the deal.
AgForce Grains President Brendan Taylor said for grain producers, this deal falls short of delivering the market access needed to justify the effort.
“It raises concerns about precedent in future trade negotiations and whether Australian agriculture is being prioritised in these outcomes,” Mr Taylor said.
The deal has frustrated farmers in both hemispheres.
Agriculture was a sticking point in previous break downs in the negotiation of the deal between Australia and the EU.
“What the Australian government has accepted today appears to offer no material change for key agricultural commodities as what the government rightly rejected in October 2023,” National Farmers Federation (NFF) president Hamish McIntyre said.
The EU without the deal, is Australia third biggest trading partner.
Trade Minister Don Farrell defended the move on the 7.30 program on ABC television on the 24th of March.
“Look, the world has become far more difficult to deal with and that’s why the policy of this government has been to diversify our trading relationships,” Mr Farrell said.
“We now have 90 per cent of the world’s trading partners, with free trade agreements.”
Local producers of everything from pork to sorghum, wheat and barley to beef and sheep are going to feel the pinch, which will undoubtedly ripple.
For example European pork, already having faced no tariffs and no quotas on import to Australia is set to continue that way.
In 2021, according to ABS data, pig farming was the biggest employer in Clifton.
