A fresh bid has been made to the China asking for the Irish beef export suspension to be lifted, the Minister for Agriculture revealed.
Charlie McConalogue, Minister for Agriculture, has written to his Chinese equivalent, asking for Irish beef exports to China to resume and said the issue remains a high priority.
The Minister said the matter had already been raised at the highest political levels, including by An Taoiseach with the Chinese Premier.
“Significant efforts to reopen the market have been made through official, technical, diplomatic and political channels over the last 19 months and there is ongoing contact with the Chinese authorities on the matter,” Mr McConalogue confirmed.
“There is no indication of any technical or scientific basis for the continued suspension of Irish beef.”
Mr McConalogue pointed out that Ireland has ‘negligible risk’ status for BSE and the Department will continue to press the case with the Chinese.
Earlier this week, Brazilian beef was cleared for export to China after a three month suspension.
Ireland has been banned from the Chinese market since May 2020, after an atypical case was discovered. However, Ireland was declared a negligible risk for BSE, which is the lowest country risk status.
LSL News.