EU beef export ban to be lifted

The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has described today's EU Commission decision to proceed with a lifting of the beef export ban on UK produce as great news for the Northern Ireland farming industry.

The unanimous decision reached at a meeting of the Commissions Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health in Brussels, brings to an end the ten year ban on the export of beef and live animals will now be considered by the European Parliament and is expected to be passed into legislation within the within the next month, paving the way for a long awaited return to exports as early as April.

UFU President Campbell Tweed welcomed the decision, saying it heralded the beginning of a new era for local agriculture: “We warmly welcome this landmark decision, which at long last signals the end of the beef export ban. No one imagined the export ban would last ten years and it has been a very difficult period for the industry and for the thousands of farming families who have suffered as a result."

The UFU says that being confined to the UK market for a prolonged period had severely hampered and damaged the local farming industry."

Announcing the decision to lift the ban the European Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said that the precautionary steps taken in relation to beef exports from the UK were necessary to protect consumers.

"The UK has made great strides in tackling this disease and has met all of the criteria that were set for the lifting of the beef export ban in line with the scientific and veterinary advice."

He said that "normal trade" regarding the exports of beef would be resumed.

The UFU said that many businesses had not survived the ban and said that the export ban had played a significant factor.

Around 11,000 people have left the farming industry in Northern Ireland since the ban was imposed in 1996.

(SP/GB)