Following the suspension of Irish beef exports to China, Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) presidential candidate Francie Gorman has urged factories to not “undermine” the prices paid to beef farmers.
The suspension comes after tests carried out by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) confirmed a case of atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).
According to DAFM, “the animal in question was a 10-and-a-half-year-old cow and was identified during the department’s on-going systematic surveillance of fallen animals at knackeries”.
Exports of beef to China are now temporarily suspended, and the timeframe for resumption of exports “is a matter for the Chinese authorities”, the department said.
“While it’s disappointing that the Chinese market is temporarily closed, despite relatively low values of exports having gone there this year, factories should use not the situation to undermine beef prices paid to farmers,” Gorman said.
The current situation with the factories, according to Gorman, is that prices in Ireland are now “€400 a head” behind those in the UK, and that due to supplies “tightening”, this “necessitates an increase in prices being paid to farmers”.
Beef exports
Following the disruption to Irish beef exports to China, Gorman recommends officials at the DAFM to engage “immediately with Chinese officials” to “restore access to this high potential market for Irish producers”.
“Irish beef exports to China should resume without delay particularly in light of Department of Agriculture’s confirmation that there was no danger at any stage of the animal entering the human food chain,” the IFA presidential candidate said.
“Exports have unfortunately been suspended under the protocol agreed with China in 2018, and there is now understandable concern amongst producers following the two-and-a-half-year ban imposed by the Chinese government when a BSE case was detected in 2020.”
Irish beef export volumes to China to date this year had been relatively low and it is expected the news will not have any significant impact on the overall Irish beef trade.
“The identification of this atypical BSE case does not impact on trade generally,” DAFM outlined.