The European Commission has agreed a zero tariff rate for 99,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of poultry, which is the equivalent of 4 million head of cattle and 600 million birds.
That has a cow at 25 kg of beef. A chicken at 300 grammes. But, you know, journalism and numbers….
Be fair, Tim, 300 g is probably about the useful amount of meat most Journalist types can get off a chicken. Throw the skin because it’s ick rather than the whole point, cut a good centimetre away from the bone because it’s ick, and bin the carcass rather than making soup or nuggets.
I’m not entirely sure that we’re not talking about 40kg of beef per head of cattle and 3.3kg per chicken which suggests that the beef carcases are not exported whole or in halves while the chickens are.
Are you discounting the possibility these are the EU’s figures? What makes you think EU peeps are any less thick than journos?
This may not be good for S. Americans, though. We were discussing, couple of days ago, how remarkably cheap meat is in Colombia. Very affordable. Meanwhile rice in the shops is the same price as it is here. Which for Colombians makes rice a luxury. Colombia doesn’t export much beef. (Although it is superb!)
Of course, the price of rice is set by the world market. Producers sell to who will offer the highest price. Which is us, isn’t it? So bandeja paisas may start looking rather thin in Asunción & parrilladas the same in Buenos Aires, if their beef prices rise to world market levels.
Someone always loses out, don’t they? With free trade.
How do I know this shit? Not by reading “experts”. It’s done by getting one of the family on a video call & looking at the prices on the shelves of a small store in a poor barrio in a Colombian small town in $COP. And knowing what was in the pay packet of a poor Colombiano. Done the same for Paraguay & Costa Rica
I don’t think this is free trade. The numbers are quotas, which are the evil cousin of tariffs which are far less harmful, close to neutral based on public willingness to go along with them.
But quotas lead to corruption, somebody has to allocate them, and the EU loves quotas.
If you’re a meat eater, I do recommend the bandeja paisa in a restaurante colombiano in Torremolinos where the colombianos go. Not a guiri or gringo darkens the door. The plate’s the size of a tray with cuts of beef, pork chops, various sausages, odd unrecognisable bits of animal innards, pork crackling, yuca, rice, fried potato, salad, served with a chili sauce requires an asbestos tongue. You look at it & think there’s enough there for a family of six. Possibly why colombianos tend to be rather solid hombres.
bis, it could be that except no one has ever made a cow or chicken two or more Fergusons out from the normal size.
Heard an interesting anecdote from the tour guide at the Bushmills distillery earlier this year. Before prohibition, the US was their biggest export market. After prohibition was lifted, US customs gave them clearance to export a certain number of bottles. So they had enormous bottles made, around 100 litres each IIRC, for the first shipment.
For subsequent shipments, US customs specified quantities in other units.
@BiG…
In a similar vein… Some years ago I had a friend who was of Polish extraction – one of his uncles was the manager of a furniture factory back when Poland was still under the thumb of the USSR. Said factory had to produce domestic furniture in quantities specified in the latest “5-Year Plan”. For some reason the quantities were specified by weight, so if they were running a bit behind they just made heavy furniture – things like dining-tables with 3″ thick solid oak tops. Nobody batted an eyelid about the insanity and nobody “in authority” ever made the slightest criticism. The system was still in place when his uncle retired.
“Not a guiri or gringo darkens the door.”
A gringo would lighten the door surely.
BiS: Similarly, I was hosting a UK video conference a couple of days ago while in Japan, and the conversation turned to price differences. I rummaged through my reciepts for examples: 400g half-loaf costs more than a UK 800g full loaf, 1L of milk for the price of 4L in Asda, cauliflowers priced out of the shops, not seen one here in years. Fish, pasta, onions, broccoli cheaper here. But, buses, trains, gas, electricity, dirt cheap. £1.80 for the equivalent of Hammersmith to The City.
Other things from chatting to locals: minimum wage is £6/hr compared to UK £12/hr. Many many people on minwage, most shop workers, etc., but also lots of “professional” jobs. The wage curve is a lot more compressed in JP (aka “less inequality”) but that results in huge numbers of people crowded up at the bottom.
@Baron Jackfield,
This phenomenon isn’t confined to communist dictatorships.
It happens in capitalist dictatorships as well:
Senior management: Right, everyone’s client billable time has been too low for too long. 10% of you are fired!
Junior management: Remaining “non-impacted” comrades, I don’t care if you round your timesheets up a bit. How can I check anyway?
jgh,
In Japan you can also buy whisky (well, bourbon) in 4 litre plastic bottles, in the supermarket, for something approximating the cost of manufacture.