The meat sector in the European Union

European Commission Directorate-General For Agriculture And Rural Development

Description

Animal production

Sujets

• Common Agricultural Policy
• Meat
• Beef (disambiguation)
• Pigmeat Markham
• Lamb and mutton
• Goat meat
• Primary sector of the economy
• Sciences et techniques

Informations

• Publié par: EUROPEAN-COMMISSION-DIRECTORATE-GENERAL-FOR-AGRICULTURE-AND-RURAL-DEVELOPMENT
• Nombre de lectures: 20
• Langue: English

Extrait

954204_Factsheet_EN 06092004 09:59 Pagina1

European Commission DirectorateGeneral for Agriculture

ThemeatsectorisoneofthemostimportantinEuropean Union(EU)agriculture.Togetherthefourmainmeattypes— beefandveal,pigmeat,poultrymeat,andsheepmeat/goat- meat—accountforonequarterofthetotalvalueofagri- 1 culturalproduction( )hsmevaevilcotsolfalfEUlarfkH.a. Some90%offarmerswithruminantanimals(cattle,sheep andgoats)arespecialistlivestockproducers.Meatisamajor sourceofproteinandconstitutesanimportantpartofthe Europeandiet.EUpoliciesinthemeatsectoraredesignedto encouragetheproductionofsafe,nutritiousandaffordable meats.Recentchangestothecommonagriculturalpolicy (CAP)underlinetheseaims.Policiesaregearedincreasingly towardsmeetingtheneedsofconsumers,livestockproduc- ersandtheenvironmentinabalancedway.

1.Meat—theproduct

Primaryproteinsource

Meathaslongformedanimportantpartofthe Europeandiet,providingahighqualitysourcefor European’promersonsucisyEs.rgneeriutnemnietqer alsoderivedviathefatcontentofmeat.Othercon- stituentssuchasAandBvitamins,iron,phosphorus andzincalsocontributetogoodhealth.Theso-called ‘redmeats’(beef/vealandsheepmeat/goatmeat)and ‘whitemeats’ (pigmeatandpoultrymeat)offera varietyofpositivepropertiesandachoiceoftastesand textures.Inaddition,meatisaveryversatileculinary productandhasbecomeavitalelementofEuropean cuisineandculture.

Wideconsumerchoice

Duetoadiversityofspecies,traditionsoflivestock productionandterraintheEUhasawidevarietyof livestocktypesandmeatproductsderivedfromthem. Thus,inadditiontocontributingtothebasicfood needsofthepopulation,livestockandmeatproducers havedevelopedmanyrenownedproducts,from(for example)AberdeenAngustoCorderoManchego,and

1 ()AgricultureintheEuropeanUnion—Statisticalandeconomicinfor- mation2003.

Themeatsectorin theEuropeanUnion

ProsciuttodiParmatoVolailledeBresse,thataddspe- cialandlocalflavourtothemeal.Meatsandmeat productsaremajorbeneficiariesoftheEU’squality markschemesandgreateffortshavebeenmadebythe meatproductionchaintoimprovethequalityofprod- uctsaswellastheirlabellingandmarketing.

2.Production, consumptionandtrade

ThemeatsectorintheEuropeanUnion(EUof15Member Statesbeforeenlargementin2004)

Thesectorconsistsoffarmers,farmercooperatives, abattoirs,andcompaniesinvolvedinvariousaspects ofdistributionandmarketingofmeat.Therearemany typesoflivestockfarmandfarmer.Thisdiversity meansthat,whilelivestockfarmingisdistributed acrossthewholeEU,thereareareasthatspecialisein oneormoretypesofmeatproduction.Forexample, 2 Irelandproducesnearly7%oftheEU’sbeef(),rep- resentingover25%ofIreland’sgrossagriculturalout- 3 put ( ).Pigrearingisconcentratedinregionsof Belgium,France,Germany,theNetherlandsand Spain,whilethebulk(54%)ofsheeprearingtakes 4 placeinSpainandtheUnitedKingdom().Inother areas,suchasFinlandandSwedenandthemountain- ousterrainofAustriaandItaly,livestockfarmingisa vitaleconomicactivitywherefewalternativestoani- malhusbandryexist.

MarketingmethodsalsovarygreatlyacrosstheEU.In somecasesthereisatraditionofsellinglivestockvia liveanimalmarketswhileinotherssellingismostly directtoabattoirs.Animalsoftenmovemorethanonce duringtheirlivesasrearerssellontootherfarmers whofinishtheanimalsreadyforthemeatmarket. Processingisinthehandsofthefarmcooperativesec-

2 ()AgricultureintheEuropeanUnion—Statisticalandeconomicinfor- mation2003. 3 ()BordBia—IrishFoodBoard—FactsheetonIrishAgriculture(2001). 4 ()AgricultureintheEuropeanUnion—Statisticalandeconomicinfor- mation2003.

ThemeatsectorintheEuropeanUnion>1