INTEROVIC warns that the EU-Australia agreement could erase 770,000 hectares of livestock land
The free trade agreement that the European Union and Australia are about to sign has raised concerns in the sheep sector. INTEROVIC, the Interprofessional Agri-food Organization for Sheep and Goat Meat, warns that the volume of imports requested by Australia will have a significant impact on domestic production.
As Raúl Muñiz, president of INTEROVIC, explains, “Currently, the European Union imports approximately 5,851 tons of sheep and goat meat from Australia. However, within the framework of trade negotiations, Australia is proposing to increase this quota to 67,000 tons, which would multiply current access to the European market elevenfold and seriously jeopardize European sheep and goat production.”
In market terms, this amount would represent around 11% of total sheep meat consumption in the European Union, which would be equivalent to the entry of 3.35 million additional lambs into the community market.
But the impact isn't limited to commercial figures. Behind every livestock farm lies a territory, a production system, and a way of managing the landscape. Considering that an average extensive farm uses around 70 hectares of pasture , the territorial effect of this competition could reach up to 770,000 hectares of livestock land, an area equivalent to three times the size of Luxembourg.
Unequal competition
The sector's concern is not only the volume of product that could enter the European market, but also the conditions under which it competes.
Lamb from Australia reaches the market with an estimated cost of between €6.5 and €7 per kilogram carcass weight, while the average European price is around €9. This difference, close to 30%, can have a direct impact on the profitability of European farms.
All of this is happening against a backdrop of structural decline in the sector. In 2024, the European Union had 56.5 million sheep, approximately 10% fewer than a decade ago, reflecting the gradual disappearance of livestock farms in many regions.
In terms of national figures, the sheep population in Spain has decreased by 10% in the last year, after losing more than 500,000 sheep in a single year.
Among the main reasons are the increase in production costs, the difficulty in maintaining the profitability of farms and, especially, the lack of generational renewal , one of the great challenges of the sector and a situation that, according to INTEROVIC, "trade agreements that increase competitive pressure would not help to reverse."
More than production: territory management
INTEROVIC points out that extensive sheep and goat farming serves a purpose that goes far beyond food production.
These grazing systems contribute to landscape maintenance, help prevent forest fires through the consumption of plant biomass, promote biodiversity, and support economic activity in numerous rural municipalities.
Therefore, the organization considers it essential that sheep farming be recognized as a sensitive sector in international trade negotiations.
“Business decisions cannot ignore their impact on the land or on the thousands of farms that keep rural areas alive, while also protecting the countryside from fires. This could affect thousands of families who currently live in the most depopulated rural areas of Spain,” says Raúl Muñiz, president of the interprofessional organization.
In this context, INTEROVIC requests that the Government of Spain defend in Brussels a position that takes into account the strategic role of the sheep and goat sector in the environmental, social and economic balance of the European rural environment.
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