The following is excerpted from the 23 November 2010 news release by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Canadian beef producers will now have duty free access to the European Union market; access which is estimated to be worth more than $10 million annually for Canada. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Minister of International Trade Peter Van Loan made the announcement today after successfully completing extensive negotiations between Canada and European Union (EU)...

The arrangement will provide duty-free access to a 20,000-tonne quota for beef exports to the European market and the Canadian Beef Export Federation estimates this new duty-free access could be worth more than $10 million a year for Canada...

The Government of Canada has also just finalized a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the European Commission, which sets the path towards the resolution of the long-standing WTO dispute between Canada and the EU on beef hormones. This understanding will ultimately add 3,200 tonnes to the current 20,000-tonne quota and provides compensation for the EU's ban on beef from animals administered growth hormones.

Under the terms of this MOU, Canadian access to this most-favoured nation quota is for beef from animals not administered growth hormones that comply with the relevant EU import requirements. Beef from animals treated with growth hormones is approved for use in Canada.

The Canadian beef industry is able and willing to immediately meet the lucrative EU market demand for hormone-free beef.