Next week marks a year since Irish beef exports to China were suspended and there are calls now for a “renewed effort” to have those exports reopened.
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) has requested an update from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) on how the situation is progressing and how close we are to beef exports to the Asian country being reopened.
Des Morrison, the association’s Livestock Committee chairperson said today (Wednesday, May 19), that the issue was of concern to both farmers and processors.
“Next week marks a full year since beef exports [from Ireland to China] were suspended due to an atypcial BSE [bovine spongiform encephalopathy] case in a 14-year-old animal.
“At the time, and on several occasions since, we have been assured that the matter is progressing towards the resolution and the reopening that Ireland’s beef sector requires,” Morrison noted.
“[We] do not think anyone can accuse farmers of being impatient on this question but, at this stage, we think that an update is required and farmers need to hear from the departments and agencies concerned where the negotiations are at, and when we can expect the Chinese market to be reopened to Irish beef,” he added.
The ICMSA livestock chair acknowledged that it would be difficult to be exact in terms of a reopening.
However, he said that it should be possible to “supply some picture of how matters were proceeding and when, approximately, the Irish sector could expect matters to be brought to a successful conclusion”.
“We’d like to know because we need to know. We see this market reopening as a matter of priority,” Morrison concluded.
‘Temporary’ suspension of beef to China
Irish beef exports to China were suspended in May of last year due to the discovery of atypical BSE in a cow in Co. Tipperary that month.
A department statement at the time said: “On Thursday, May 14, the [department] confirmed…a case of ‘atypical BSE’ in a 14-year-old cow.”
Atypical BSE does not have any impact on a country’s official BSE risk status.
However, the department confirmed: “On a temporary basis, and in line with the specific protocol agreed with the Chinese authorities, Ireland has voluntarily suspended beef exports to China as and from May 22, until an epidemiological report is finalised and discussed with the Chinese authorities.”