Covid-19

COVID-19

COVID-19 has disrupted production and supplies of many sectors of the economy. Numerous consumers still remember that all the stuff had been bought out from the shops and supermarkets at the beginning of 2020. Despite stormy conditions in international markets, supply chain disruptions and COVID outbreaks in many facilities, the European meat industry has managed not only to increase production but also to increase trade with the US and Canada.

It is worth remembering that no routes have been identified through which COVID-19 may have moved with exported meat products[1]. There is thus no reason to be afraid of meat imported from other countries or regions of the world, even if COVID-19 is prevalent there. Furthermore, the European Union is one of the leaders in terms of the vaccination rates[2]. All in all, the European Union is still a trusted trading partner for the United States and Canada.

The positive picture is confirmed by the trade data. The value of exports from the European Union to the United States and Canada in 2020 rose by almost 4% to EUR 541 million, despite a 10% fall in export volumes to 111 million tonnes. Union pork production in the year under review increased by 1.5% in 2020, while beef production in 2020 fell by 1.2% compared to the previous year. The value of EU pork exports to the US decreased by 19%, the value of EU beef exports to the US increased by 55% and the value of EU processed meat exports to the US decreased by 0.5%. Exports to Canada also recorded increases - the value of EU beef exports to Canada increased by 260%, the value of pork exports increased by 23% and the value of processed meat exports increased by 27% compared to the previous year. This shows that red-meat trade between Europe and America has a bright future, even during the COVID-19 crisis. The United States continues to be the main consumer of the EU meat across the Atlantic, representing major part of the European exports to America. The outlook for the near future remains positive - according to the USDA, the US Department of Agriculture, exports from the European Union are expected to remain significantly higher than before the pandemic [3] .

  • [1] https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news21_e/sps_30mar21_e.htm
  • [2] https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations
  • [3] https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circulars/livestock_poultry.pdf