Volume 10: Economic Impact and International Trade
5. The framework for the export of cattle, beef and cattle-derived products
Introduction
Volume of relevant UK exports

5.1 In the remainder of this volume we consider the impact of BSE on the export from the UK of products falling within the following categories:

1. live cattle;
2. beef;
3. bovine semen and embryos;
4. MBM and feedstuffs containing MBM;
5. tallow and gelatine, as products potentially derived in whole or in part from bovine by-products; and
6. medicines and cosmetics potentially containing products of bovine origin.

These categories are dealt with in Chapters 6 and 7; in this chapter we give an overview of the volume of relevant UK exports, the regulation of exports under UK law, EU law and international obligations.

5.2 Trade is vitally important to the UK economy. Between 1986 and 1996, exports of goods and services constituted between 20 and 30 per cent of UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP). ¹ Beef and veal exports, ² as a proportion of GDP, never rose above 0.1 per cent in the period. ³

5.3 Between 1986 and 1996, UK beef and live cattle exports more than doubled in value, reaching £720 million at their peak in 1995, as shown in Figure 5.1 below. ⁴ However, the overall volume of exports in that period increased by less than 70 per cent (Figure 5.2).

Figure 5.1: UK beef and live cattle exports, 1986-96, by value

Figure 5.2: UK beef and live cattle exports, 1986-96, by volume

5.4 Between 1986 and 1996, total slaughter of UK cattle decreased slightly, ⁵ but domestic consumption of beef and veal also fell for a variety of reasons that are discussed in detail in Chapter 3. ⁶ New markets for UK beef were found abroad.

5.5 The proportion of UK beef and live cattle exported to the European Union fluctuated between about 80 and over 90 per cent, by value, of the total. Beef and live cattle exported to France made up about half of the value of all beef and live cattle exports, and there were also substantial exports to the Netherlands.

5.6 On 27 March 1996 the European Commission prohibited all UK exports of beef and cattle, and their by-products, to all other EU Member States and the rest of the world. ⁷ What had become a beef export market worth almost £600 million per year collapsed, leading to severe economic difficulties for those dependent on it.