China suspends Irish beef imports after BSE case

China has suspended beef imports from Ireland after a case of Atypical BSE was identified.
calendar icon 28 May 2020
clock icon 1 minute read

Tim Cullinan, President of the Irish Farmers Association says that the suspension of access to the Chinese market was disappointing. He added that the issue must be resolved quickly.

“This is a technical issue resulting from the discovery of a case of Atypical BSE in a 14-year old cow in this country. Under the protocol, Ireland is required to submit a detailed epidemiological report,” he said.

“Given the nature of this case, once the report is reviewed by the Chinese authorities, there should be no delay in regaining access.”

An atypical case does not affect Ireland’s current OIE controlled risk status or our progress towards negligible risk status.

“The Chinese market took 10,000 tonnes of Irish beef last year and 2,900 tonnes had gone there in the first quarter of 2020. This is a relatively small amount and accounts for less than 2 percent of our beef exports. However, it’s an important and growing market. We need to get back there as a matter of urgency,” he said.

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