US delegates at the World Meat Congress in Dublin yesterday made it clear that their beef industry is not prepared to accept compromise to avoid a trade war with the EU over hormone-treated beef.
US producers and processors are incensed at the EU ban, which they claim has cost them $500 million annually since the late 1980s.
Today the US Secretary for Agriculture, Mr Dan Glickman, and the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Franz Fischler, will face each other during a session.
It emerged yesterday that they will have a private meeting when, it is expected, some attempt will be made to reach a compromise.
Mr Len Condon of the American Meat Institute said he did not expect Mr Fischler to be able to reach agreement with Mr Glickman because he no longer had the capacity to do so after the recent dispute between the Commission and the European Parliament.
The ban has already cost the US industry $500 million annually while the US has selected only $202 million of European goods for retaliation, he said.
Yesterday the IFA president, Mr Tom Parlon, accused the US of attempting to coerce Europe into accepting its beef. He said that if Europe was forced to accept hormone-treated beef it would damage consumer confidence.
The President, Mrs McAleese, also referred to consumer confidence when she formally opened the congress yesterday.
"Consumers need to trust the chain of supply. They need to have complete confidence in it. Your own confidence in your business is directly related to that trust," she said.