Three years after Australia walked away from free trade negotiations with the European Union, Canberra and Brussels appear to be edging back toward an endgame on an Australia–EU Free Trade Agreement (A-EU FTA). What’s changed since talks collapsed is the combination of renewed political momentum to diversify trade, rising global trade uncertainty, and a sharper sense from industry that the next round can’t end in another “nearly” deal, not while competitor countries have continued to lock in better EU access through bilateral agreements.
That reality is driving a hard line from Australia’s red meat and sheep sectors, which say improved, commercially meaningful market access is the non-negotiable test of any agreement.
Federal trade minister, Don Farrell, has been in Brussels for negotiations. The final details of the agreement are yet to be released, but along with the concerns around meat exports there has been the sticking point over the use of geographical indicators.
During the last round of negotiations in 2023, Australia walked away due to what were seen as onerous and unreasonable conditions by the EU.
The EU said it would ban Australian companies from using product names protected under the EU Geographical Indications (GIs) including parmesan, balsamic, feta, and kransky. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said the EU initially asked Australia to protect 236 spirit names and 172 agricultural and other foodstuff names as GIs in Australia. The names relate to a range of sectors including, dairy, meat, smallgoods, horticulture, confectionery, oils, beer and spirits.
Red meat: “rectify punitive access”
Australia’s red meat industry has issued its clearest warning yet that negotiators must not sign an FTA that leaves existing EU restrictions largely intact. The sector argues the EU has continued to favour quota increases for selected partners rather than genuinely liberalising its import regime – leaving Australia stuck with “disproportionately low” access compared with rivals.
Australia–EU Red Meat Market Access Taskforce chair, Andrew McDonald, said Australia cannot afford to fall further behind other global suppliers that have strengthened their EU position since Australia last left the table.
“A successful deal must correct the disproportionately low quota volumes currently applied to Australian beef, sheepmeat and goatmeat entering the EU, and secure the maximum possible additional, useable access under an FTA,” McDonald said.
The Taskforce is calling for at least 50,000 tonnes carcase weight (cwt) of beef access, arguing this is in line with what the EU has offered competitors. Australia’s current country-specific beef quota is 3389 tonnes shipped weight (swt), which it says compares starkly with outcomes secured elsewhere, including 50,000 tonnes cwt via the EU–Canada agreement.
“The situation for Australian sheepmeat and goatmeat is similarly inequitable,” McDonald said, warning that settling for a sub-optimal deal would “apply a handbrake” to diversification into a 27-country market of 450 million consumers.
Sheepmeat: “defining moment” for producers
Sheep Producers Australia said the renewed negotiations represent a “critical, defining moment” – and that the government should only continue on the “clear and non-negotiable condition” that sheepmeat receives substantially increased, commercially meaningful access.
Director Allison Harker said the EU understood from the start that Australia’s purpose was to secure significantly improved market access for agriculture.
“The final outcome must not lock Australian sheepmeat into a perpetual competitive disadvantage, compared with access already granted to other suppliers, and it must not be compromised by restrictive conditions that render access meaningless in practice,” Harker said.
The group points to the gap with New Zealand, which has 125,769 tonnes of WTO access plus 38,000 tonnes under its FTA, compared with Australia’s 5851-tonne limit. The red meat taskforce argues a trade-enhancing agreement must go a long way toward addressing that imbalance, calling for at least 67,000 tonnes for sheepmeat access.
Level playing field – or no deal
Both groups also frame the access fight as an issue of equity across the broader relationship, noting the EU’s trade surplus with Australia and the EU’s access to Australian markets and supply chains. They argue Australia already provides the EU with quota and tariff-free access for meat products – while the EU continues to tightly restrict access for Australian red meat.
“We are counting on trade minister Don Farrell and the government to maintain their resolve and secure an outcome our industry can support,” McDonald said.
Meat & Livestock Australia serves as secretariat to the Australia–EU Red Meat Market Access Taskforce, supporting industry coordination and insights throughout the negotiation process.
Depending on the final agreement, the FTA will eliminate around 98 per cent of tariffs and open up a market of more than 450 million consumers and 32 million businesses, seeing a boost of more than $7 billion to Australia’s GDP by 2030. The EU is the country’s third largest trading partner after China and Japan.
