Ireland wins favour with Chinese on food production and traceability

IRELAND’S food production and traceability systems created such a positive impression on a recent Chinese departmental visit that enhanced trade relations seem increasingly likely.

Irish Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney and his Chinese counterpart Niu Dun have signed an action plan that focuses on education bursaries and exchanges of third-level agri-students from each country.

Both sides are hopeful the plan will lead to increased trade.

For Ireland, those hopes would focus on exports of lamb, pork and beef. China has banned all imports of EU beef since the BSE outbreak of 2000.

While in Ireland, visiting Chinese students will study subjects such as animal traceability and veterinary controls, pesticides, animal feedstuffs and animal health status, notably BSE controls.

Mr Coveney said: “Minister Niu Dun was very impressed with our food safety and traceability systems. That is an areas he said would be of great interest to the students who will come to study here. We also both expressed our willingness to discuss and examine potential future trade opportunities between our countries. Of course, China still has a ban on beef from the EU, but China remains an important export target for Irish agriculture in the longer term.

“Irish beef, lamb and pork are premium quality products. China is a huge market for premium quality agriculture products. I was very pleasantly surprised by how highly our Chinese visitors thought of our food production standards here.

“China would be an exciting market for Ireland to make progress in. Myself and Minister Niu Dun have discussed future opportunities around the areas of cattle semen and dairy breeding. We will build on these relations, and we will have ongoing discussions.”

The Chinese minister spent four days in Ireland, with the focus of his visit on food safety, traceability systems and veterinary controls. The delegation also visited laboratories and commercial processing facilities.

Mr Coveney said he hopes to make a return trip to China soon.

Last year Ireland exported over €107m in food, seafood, beverages, forestry products and wool to China and 95m worth to Hong Kong. This figure would grow considerably if China were to give preferred import status to Ireland, and perhaps relax the ban it imposed on EU beef during the BSE outbreak 10 years ago.

Mr Coveney did not comment on Government hopes in this regard.

However, several beef industry sources are hopeful that the positive impression formed of Ireland’s traceability and quality production systems can help revive very valuable trade channels.