More threats to Botswana's EU beef market

 Minister of Agriculture, Christiaan De Graaff told a consultative forum for boards of parastatals at Sebele on Tuesday that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ranks Botswana as a middle-income economy and failure to meet the requirements will result in the country competing with more developed beef exporting countries like Brazil and Australia.

The EPA with the EU gives Botswana the right to sell as much beef as it can produce in the EU market on a duty free, quota free basis. Though cattle producers in developed beef exporting countries like the US, Australia and Brazil have a supply side advantage over Botswana in terms of their superior production efficiency, their primary demand side constraint lack the preferential EU market access due to tariff and non-tariff barriers.