National Pig Association THE VOICE OF THE UK PIG INDUSTRY NPA is active on members' behalf in Brussels & Whitehall, and with processors, supermarkets & caterers - fighting for the growth and pros-perity of the UK pig industry.

"So at a time when most business sectors are concerned with growing their market demand we have a very robust home market."

He went on to highlight some of the issues that will have an impact on red meat businesses in 2005 and beyond.

• World meat production and consumption trends.
• World trade policy developments.
• Global animal disease and food safety issues.

"World meat production is forecast to grow by around 20 percent over the next decade, largely from the developing countries such as South America. But we mustn't be intimidated by it because world meat consumption will also grow by around 20 percent over the next decade.

"CAP reform and WTO talks are leading towards more liberalised world trade. I acknowledge that free trade is not up for question, but the whole of our beef and sheep livestock industries will be very fragile for the next five years as they move away from production based subsidies to a more market driven system.

"I firmly believe that we will never be able to compete on price alone against truly low cost competitors. We need to go for quality differentiation, through marketing the true points of difference of our British product and we must maintain our reputation for producing the world's best livestock."

He said sustainability meant the industry had to be more efficient and must constantly seek to improve its long-term competitiveness and profitability. "The good news is, there's currently plenty of free help and the best of it, like the Red Meat Industry Forum on-farm benchmarking, is run by farmers for farmers."

As expected, the European Central Bank has decided to leave eurozone interest rates at two per cent – the rate has been on hold for 18 months.

Source: National Pig Association - 3rd December 2004