Botswana's Minister of Trade and Industry Vincent Seretse will leave for Norway on Saturday to attend a meeting with his Norwegian and Namibian counterparts to discuss the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Generalized System of Preference (GSP) and the Free Trade Area (FTA) Beef Quota Review.

The joint ministerial meeting will discuss issues and developments in the agricultural sector in Norway which may have possible negative impact on the Botswana-Namibia beef quota, said a statement released by the ministry of trade on Wednesday.

According to the statement, Norway is currently reviewing its agricultural support framework with a view to opening up its markets for global competition. This initiative could have negative impact on Botswana and Namibia's beef exports and there is need for extensive consultations to ensure that the SACU market is protected.

Norway provides an annual quota of 2,700 tons of quota free beef imports from SACU, most of which is from Botswana and Namibia.

"The outcomes of engaging with the Norwegian counterpart will provide inputs into SACU's position which will contribute to the review of the SACU EFTA Agreement during the first quarter of 2015, " read the statement.

While it is estimated to account for less than 2 percent of Botswana's GDP and 1.5 percent of its merchandise exports, the beef sector is strategically important as it affects the livelihood of a large number of Batswana. In 2013, 97 percent of Botswana's beef exports went to South Africa, Britain, Germany, Netherlands and Norway.

Botswana's beef exports have been rising steadily over the last two decades, but dipped during the 2007-2008 global economic crisis.

The outbreak of foot and mouth disease, coupled with Botswana's failure to comply with EU standards, led to the country being suspended from exporting beef to the EU market between 2011 and 2012, which caused a drastic decline in exports.

However, exports have been recovering and the country has regained EU market access. Nevertheless, beef exports are still significantly below the 2010 peak of 158.6 million US dollars.

The government of Botswana is committed to resuscitating the beef sector because the global longer term outlook for beef demand is positive. Beef is critical to Botswana's Economic Diversification Drive ambitions.