Weddel Swift has been an active importer of beef for over 100 years buying product from South America and Australia. Since Britain joined the EU this activity has extended to include beef traded within the European Community.

Beef Consumption in the EU is quite static at around 16kg per Capita per annum. The EU imports around 240,000 tonnes of beef each year which represents around 3.5% of beef consumption. EU Exports add up to approximately 310,000 tonnes per year.

The Beef imports tend to be the higher value cuts and import quotas that exist are geared to assist this. Tariff rates have remained unchanged for many years and when applied increase the value of imported beef by about 50%. Various quotas exist to reduce import duty.