For almost three decades, the EU has banned the sale of red meat, and beef specifically, from livestock which have been raised using Hormone Growth Promotants (HGPs).
Australian farmers respect these requirements, and have set up a dedicated cattle herd segregation and processing system for producing hormone-free beef for European markets.
This system – called the European Union Cattle Accreditation Scheme (EUCAS) – traces hormone-free cattle from birth, and is jointly audited by Australian and EU government inspectors.
Under the system, hormone treated and hormone-free herds are completely separated to ensure that all high-quality Australian beef exported to Europe is fully traceable, and completely free from added hormones.
Only 10% of all Australian cattle properties are accredited to supply cattle to the EU market.