The Chinese Premier, Li Qiang, chose to dine on Irish beef during his working lunch with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park, Dublin today (Wednesday, January 17).
The menu included Hereford beef sirloin or Kenmare salmon and the Chinese Premier opted for the beef option.
It was a fortuitous choice in light of the confirmation today from the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue and Minister of State, Martin Heydon that Irish beef exports to China are to resume.
Beef exports
Beef exports from Ireland to China had been suspended when a case of atypical BSE (mad cow disease), was discovered by Irish veterinary officials in November 2023.
The case, in a cow over 10-years-old, had not entered the food chain here.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) the suspension of access to the Chinese market was “entirely precautionary and in line with a protocol agreed with the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC)”.
Last month the Irish government had submitted to Beijing a “detailed and comprehensive epidemiological report” on the atypical BSE case detected in November.
Minister McConalogue said today that securing access to the Chinese market had been a “top priority” for him.
In 2019 Ireland exported approximately 8,186 tonnes of beef valued at €39.87 million to China.
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach told Premier Li and his delegation at Farmleigh House today that “we want to have a very strong and constructive relationship with China, one based on trust and respect, and one informed by our values and the multilateral system in which we are both stakeholders”.
“Of course, we won’t find agreement on everything, but I hope we will always speak frankly and respectfully to each other and candidly as we did today.
“That is an important part of the rules-based order, to which we both subscribe,” he added.
The Taoiseach also said that Ireland wants to pursue “deeper economic relations” with China.