Confirmation that beef exports to China will resume has been welcomed by the Beef Plan Movement.
However, chair of the organisation, Eamon Corley, has queried why it has taken so long to secure entry again for Irish beef to the Chinese market which was worth €45 million in 2021.
Beef exports to China were suspended following the confirmation in May 2020 by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) of a case of atypical BSE.
Corley said that meat from the animal identified with BSE three years ago would not have entered the human food chain under any circumstances.
“So why did the Chinese authorities feel that a three-year ban on Irish beef imports was necessary under such circumstances? Beef Plan wrote to the Minister for Agriculture about these matters at the time.
“One of the meat plants supplied by our producer group, Emerald Isle Beef Producers, was extremely perturbed at losing out on valuable export opportunities to China.”
According to Corley, Emerald Isle Beef Producers marketed a significant number of cattle to four meat plants consistently throughout 2022.
“We want to build on this for the future,” he said.
“Making this happen will entail the development of collection centres at strategic locations across the country.
“These would allow cattle to be drafted into groups that better meet the criteria of the meat plants that we supply,” Corley added.
Beef Plan Movement ambitions
But he also outlined that for the organisation to proceed with its ambitions it would require support from the DAFM.
The Beef Plan Movement chair said that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine has set aside €3 million of funding for producer groups to support their development and it would like to access some of this funding.
“The bottom line is that the planned development of our collection centres cannot take place without access to government support funding,” Corley stated.
He has claimed that the organisation has “almost 2,600 fully paid up members” but has confirmed that it is not recognised by DAFM as an official stakeholder body.
“We met the Minister for Agriculture two years ago, at which time we were made aware of 10 criteria that must be met before official government could be secured for Beef Plan,” he continued.
“All of these boxes have now been ticked, apart from one: the hosting of three annual meetings. However, this issue will be addressed in 2023,” Corley stated.
The Beef Plan Movement is now looking optimistically at the year ahead.
In particular Corley is predicting a very strong beef market for the first six months of 2023.
“The plants can’t get enough cattle at the present time. So, we may well see further price increases over the coming weeks,” he said.
