Subsidies for Middle East cattle exports raise MEPs’ suspicions

By David Cronin

Date: 11/03/04

MEPS are pushing for an inquiry into suspicions of major irregularities in the awarding of almost €50 million of subsidies for the exports of live cattle to the Middle East.

The suspicions have been aroused by official European Commission data, indicating that 90% of all live cattle shipped out of the Union during 2002 went to Lebanon.

The Parliament is due to debate a call for a probe by anti-fraud office OLAF into export subsidies at its next plenary session (29 March-1 April). Some deputies are already indicating they will also press for an end to the entire export subsidies regime, under which more than €60 million is spent on live cattle shipments per annum.

Austrian Socialist Herbert Bösch says there are "obvious irregularities" in the case of exports to Lebanon. He doubts whether Lebanon is actually the final destination of cattle, recalling how in the past cattle officially exported to Jordan has gone to Iraq, despite an economic embargo during the Saddam Hussein era.

"We know that export refunds are one of the EU policies most vulnerable to fraud," he said. "We have seen an enormous increase of exports into a very small country. This arouses suspicions because Lebanon does not have the capacity to slaughter this number of cattle."

Some 226,000 live cattle went to Lebanon in 2002, whereas the entire number of cattle sent abroad from the Union was 262,000. The bulk of the cattle came from just three member states - France, Germany and Ireland. Export subsidies for the EU-Lebanon trade amounted to €52 million in that year.

Incoming member state Poland, which has 39 million people, is the second highest recipient country of live cattle from the EU - taking 12,000 cattle in 2002.

Jan Mulder, a Dutch Liberal MEP specializing in agricultural policy, is backing the calls for scrapping export refunds. "This system of export subsidies is outdated in view of the EU's international commitments," he said.

In addition, he argued that export refunds should be abolished on animal welfare grounds. Moves by the Commission to improve the conditions of animals being transported by imposing a journey time limit would make no difference once the animals are beyond the Union's external borders, he claimed.

Gregor Kreuzhuber, the Commission's agriculture spokesman, said the EU executive would have no difficulty with an OLAF investigation into the live exports trade.

But he said that exports to Lebanon of live cattle could be high, irrespective of whether the export subsidies regime continues, as the country will not import carcasses but instead wishes to slaughter the animals itself.

Total export subsidies, which critics of the Common Agricultural Policy blame for distorting global trade, to farmers in the Union amount to €5 billion per year. The 2001 "Doha declaration" agreed at a World Trade Organization ministerial committed industrialized countries to phasing out such subsidies.

MEPs are pushing for an inquiry into suspicions of major irregularities in the awarding of almost €50m of subsidies for the export of live cattle to the Middle East.