Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has told Agriland that he is “hopeful” of restoring Irish beef access to China within months.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) yesterday (Tuesday, November 7) confirmed that beef exports to China were suspended after tests confirmed a case of atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).
The case was identified in 10-and-a-half-year-old cow during the department’s ongoing systematic surveillance of fallen animals at knackeries.
Subsequent tests carried out at the department’s Central Veterinary Research Laboratory confirmed the presence of atypical BSE on November 3.
“The animal did not enter the food or feed chain and there are no public health risks associated with this occurrence,” the DAFM stated.
China
Beef shipments from Ireland to China had only resumed in January, after they had previously been suspended in May 2020, following the confirmation by DAFM of “an isolated case of atypical BSE”.
“It’s disappointing from the point of view of the disruption to the market and the relationships there and the work that our meat companies have been putting in, in particular, in terms of building up customers,” Minister McConalogue, who led a trade mission to China earlier this year, said.
Similar to Tánaiste Micheál Martin, who is currently on a four-day visit to China, Minister McConalogue is hoping the Chinese authorities would make a decision on reopening market access for Irish beef within months.
“We will be hopeful given the fact that we’ve been through this process, just in the last couple of years that we will be able to convince the Chinese authorities to recommence imports promptly,” he said.
However, the minister stressed that the decision is “not in our control” and is “entirely a matter for the Chinese government and the Chinese authorities in terms of when they give that authorisation”.
“We’ll be working to get it reopened as promptly as we possibly can,” he added.
Beef exports
The minister noted that the protocol agreed between Ireland and the Chinese government is unlike the access and the export certification required for the other 69 markets Ireland exports to, which account for over 99% of our total beef export volume.
The Chinese protocol requires the immediate suspension of export certification once there is any case of BSE, even atypical.
Minister McConalogue said that DAFM will provide an epidemiological assessment for the Chinese authorities on the case.
Once this report has been assessed by China, discussions around recommencing trade can begin.
The minister did not accept that consumer confidence would be damaged by this atypical BSE case.
“People should have supreme confidence in Irish beef. We have testing regimes and food safety standards, which are the highest in the world and in terms of BSE testing are higher than any other part of the world.
“That means that we capture all cases, such as this, and it means that we will be capturing cases that other exporting countries that wouldn’t have the same systems in place as we do, wouldn’t capture,” he said.
Market access
On the question of compensation for Irish exporters impacted by the suspension of the Chinese market, Minister McConalogue said that “is not a consideration”.
“What’s necessary is that we work with our exporters now to get the market reopened quickly and also that we work to make sure that we help our exporters and our companies who are in China to maintain the business relationships they have,” he said.
He said that Bord Bia will be working on building an Irish presence in the Chinese market pending it being reopened for beef exports.
The value of beef exports to China stood at €40 million in 2019 before market access was previously suspended.
Ireland was granted the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) negligible risk status for BSE in 2021, which is the lowest risk rating available.
Atypical BSE, which happens sporadically and randomly in cattle, is not a condition which is notifiable to the WOAH.
The identification of this atypical BSE case does not affect Ireland’s negligible risk status for BSE.