EU court rules against beef industry rationalisation plan

THE EU’s top court has declared a rationalisation plan that had been developed by beef processors to reduce capacity in the Irish beef industry to be in breach of EU competition law.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a ruling last week in favour of a challenge taken by the Competition Authority against a compensation scheme developed by Ireland’s leading beef producers to buy out smaller rivals.

The ECJ found a rationalisation plan devised by the Beef Industry Development Society (BIDS) in 2002 to reduce the number of beef processors operating in the Republic runs contrary to EU competition legislation.