Despite the failure of the Doha round of trade talks, industry leaders are hopeful the fiercely protectionist European Union could buy more Australian lamb yet.

While disappointed that the talks failed to deliver given the huge potential for Australian lamb in Europe, Sheepmeat Council president Chris Groves said there were other avenues to explore.

"We need to work with individual countries and from that point of view we have had some success with the French," Mr Groves said.

"As a country that is soon to be a net importer of sheepmeat it is open to the idea of accepting Australian lamb and this has already been flagged with the French Agriculture Minister some 18 months ago when he was here in Australia."

Similar agreements have seen Australian lamb enter and thrive in the massive United States market, now the flagship international market for Australian lamb.

The key to forming such agreements, according to Mr Groves, is to work through the sheep industry in these countries.

"We have shown we can do it not only in the US but also in South Africa," he said.

Unfortunately the prized United Kingdom market will remain largely the domain of the New Zealand industry with the Doha failure, according to Mr Groves.

"The Kiwis appear to have that one pretty well covered, despite their drop in production so we will have to leave that great market alone for now."