Irish beef farmers can benefit from improved access to US market – Deering

Fine Gael Carlow Kilkenny TD and Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Pat Deering has said that the announcement of improved access for Irish beef into the US market is really good news for Irish beef farmers.

“Any expansion of Irish beef into international markets is really good news for Irish beef farmers who can seek to maximise their output.

“The Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, has confirmed to me that US authorities now recognise Ireland’s raw meat control system as equivalent to that of the US. In principle this extends our US market access to include manufacturing beef intended for grinding, which is typically used in burgers and similar processed products.  

“Developing new markets for our beef is a key element of the Government’s Food Wise 2025 strategy and we know that agri-food trade is central to the Irish Government’s contingency planning in the wake of the UK vote to leave the European Union.

“This decision regarding the US market, which is the result of intensive discussions and negotiations, is a real coup for Irish beef as Ireland is the first EU Member State to achieve this status in the US. This follows on from Ireland being the first EU Member State since the BSE crisis to be granted access into the US market for our beef in 2014.

“There are currently six Irish plants approved to export beef to the US. Exports in 2015 are estimated at over €14m and 2016 looks to be considerably improved on that figure. The total US beef market is estimated at 11 million metric tonnes per annum. Approximately 1 million tonnes of this is imported, the bulk of which is manufacturing beef. Furthermore the US market for grass fed, natural and organic beef, something we specialise in here in Ireland, is estimated to be growing at approximately 20% per annum. So there is real potential here for Irish beef farmers to capitalise on this new market for manufacturing beef.”