And companies from the Netherlands can sell their products or animals to all the other countries in the EU. This free trade union' is very good for the Dutch livestock industry. Animals are bought in other countries, imported to The Netherlands, raised, and slaughtered. The meat products that are from the slaughtered animals are sold throughout the whole world. .
The strength of the Dutch cattle breading industry is the breading part; calves are bought in, for example, Ireland. The one-day-old calves are shipped to The Netherlands. When the calves arrive in The Netherlands, they are put in immense stables. After three months, the calves are big enough to be shipped to the abattoir, or another breading farm. In the cow-breading farm, the calves are raised until they are over one year old. Now the calve is ready to have its first calve, after this happening' the calve is called yearling. After the yearling has had its second calve can have their first calve. When the yearling has had its second calve it is called cow. The cow will either be slaughtered or it will be shipped to a milk farm. .
The fact that The Netherlands is a member of the EU has another major advantage. The European Union tries to keep competitors from other non-EU countries out of the EU. The EU does this by setting up rules and very high standards for meat and livestock that enters the EU. For example, most of the meat or livestock from the United States of America is cheaper because the cattle in the USA grows much faster because it is fed with hormones. The EU has prohibited the use of these sorts of hormones. Thus most of the meat of the USA is not able to enter The Netherlands. Which is positive for Dutch farmers. .
To protect the livestock breeders in the EU from the entry of other countries in the EU-markets, the EU has very high import duties. This is mainly because the overall prices in the EU are much higher than in the rest of the world.
