More cattle imported

In the first four months of this year, 357 thousand head of cattle were imported into the Netherlands, a 15 percent increase relative to the first four months of 2007. Last year, cattle imports rose by 8 percent relative to 2006.

All cattle imported into the Netherlands come from EU countries. With a share of over 40 percent, Germany is the Netherlands’ most prominent supplier of cattle. Since joining the European Union in May 2004, Poland also exports many cattle to the Netherlands. The United Kingdom accounts for 6 percent of total cattle imports, but recently imports from the UK have slowed down dramatically: in the first four months of 2008, cattle imports from the UK plummeted by 28 percent relative to the same period last year. In 2007, cattle imports from the UK still increased substantially by 57 percent.

Most important cattle-exporting countries, January-April