Production and exchanges of beef meat in the world and in the European Union[La production et les échanges de viande bovine dans le monde et dans l'Union européenne]

This paper proposes a retrospective analysis of beefsupply and trade over the period 1991-2002, first at theworld level, second for the various Member States ofthe European Union. The latter is the second world producerafter the United States. European beef productiondeclined over the past decade while world supplyincreased by 1 % per year, mainly because of some developingcountries (Brazil and China). The EuropeanUnion is the fourth world exporter after Australia, theUnited States and Brazil. Like supply, European beefexports declined over the past ten years, mainly becauseof sanitary problems. The Agricultural Agreement ofthe Uruguay Round was not really constraining since1994 on both the export and import dossier. Europeanbeef imports were globally stable since that datearound 400 000 tonnes per year. The European beefproduction decrease since 1991 is for a large part dueto some Member States where milk production is important(Germany and countries of the North of Europe).The beef supply structure is different in each MemberState according to weights of produced animals, privilegedraces, breeding techniques and production systems.This production heterogeneity contributes tooffer to consumers a diversified choice of beef productsand explains, at least in part, why intra communitytrades are important, although in decline over the lastyears.