The GEF, a group founded in November 2011 by Interbev to represent the interests of French beef meat, has set itself as a priority to win over the cattle meat market in the UAE, according to Trade Arabia.

The UAE officially lifted the BSE-related embargo in the end of 2009 against France.

With almost 20 million head of cattle, France has Europe’s largest bovine livestock and above all the largest one for the production of beef meat, Trade Arabia reported.

“The UAE are great consumers of meat as a result of the growth of tourism there and of the high income per-capita. The country consumes 18 times more meat per capita than the worldwide average, and depends on imports for 80 per cent of its cattle meat needs. Meat consumption is expected to increase by 28 per cent from 2011 to 2015, when it should reach 439,000 tonnes,” Christelle Labernède, head of Agribusiness at Ubifrance Dubai said.

Xavier Pacholek, agricultural counselor for the Middle East at the Embassy of France said that 1.6 million tons produced every year, as France is Europe’s leading producer of beef and noted that approximately 250,000 tons of French beef are exported each year in Europe and in the rest of the world.