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May 19, 2021 12:49 pm
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.
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“We’d like to know because we need to know. We see this market reopening as a matter of priority.”
Leading up to the first anniversary of China’s suspension of Irish beef imports, the ICMSA has requested a renewed effort towards a full reopening of that market.
China suspended beef imports from Ireland during the last week of May 2020, following the confirmation of an atypical case of BSE.
“The suspension was due to an atypical BSE case in a 14-year old animal.
The ICMSA does not think anyone can accuse farmers of being impatient on this question
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The ICMSA said there is a need for a scheme that bridges both the beef and dairy sector.
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) has said that with more than 8,000 applications received for the calf weighing scheme, there is evidence for greater integration of the dairy and beef sectors.
Chair of the livestock committee Des Morrison said there is a need for a scheme that bridges both sectors and moves the integration process up a gear.
“We know that the amounts are very modest at a maximum of €400 per farmer and the ICMSA is proposing that if there are surplus funds available under the scheme, the level of payment per head should be increased to utilise the full budget available,” Morrison said.