EU-Mercosur trade deal: A tale of two cattle breeders

In the Belgian city of Ciney — a good hour's drive away from Brussels — thousands of cows and bulls change ownership every Friday. Some of them have finished their career as dairy cows; others are young bulls or used to be breeding animals. They all are here to be sold to a fattener and afterwards to the butcher. The people at the market live from selling and reselling these cattle. Over the last three decades, the cattle population in Belgium has sunk from 3 million to 2 million animals. Many at the market fear the population will sink even further, and feel their livelihoods might be threatened if more meat is imported from Latin America. "This would have a very negative effect on the price our producers receive, and this would discourage farmers from taking over farms," said Benoit Cassart, secretary-general of the Belgian Cattle Trade Federation. Cassart isn't just worried about the future; becoming dependent on the rest of the world for food is also a concern. The reason for ...