The beef processing plants that were approved to export to China last month have been revealed, with ABP Nenagh, Kepak Clonee and Dawn Meats Charleville all getting the green light.

As well as this, it was confirmed that McCarren’s pork plant had also received approval.

News of this tranche of approvals first emerged when the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, was visiting China last month as part of a trade mission.

Also Read: Additional Irish meat plants given green light for export to China

This follows on from the initial announcement made in April of this year, when it was confirmed that three beef processing plants had been given the go-ahead. These plants were ABP Clones, Donegal Meat Processors (Foyle Meats) and Slaney Foods International.

At the time, it was also revealed that a further tranche of five beef processing plants were in the final stages of approval – these included: ABP Nenagh; Kepak Clonee; Liffey Meats; Dawn Meats Charleville; and Kildare Chilling.

Commenting on the news, Mark Goodman – managing director of ABP’s International Division – said: “We welcome today’s announcement which is a further tangible endorsement of the quality beef that Ireland and ABP continues to offer.

“We look forward to building on our relationship with the Chinese market, and working closely with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Bord Bia to continue to build on the opportunities for Irish beef in China.”

‘Approval of all meat plants a priority’

Speaking to AgriLand during last month’s trade mission, senior director of Meat Industry Ireland (MII) Cormac Healy explained that a key priority moving forward is ensuring that all Irish meat plants are approved to access the Chinese market.

This is a market of serious scale and, if Ireland is to really capture the potential here, we need to get all our meat plants approved.

“MII will continue to work with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and member companies to increase the number of processing plants cleared to export to China,” he said.