BSE still remains a problem for British beef market
Irish exporters and farmers have benefited significantly from the fall in EU beef self sufficiency to its lowest level since 1979, a trend set to continue and strengthen in 2004, unless the UK decides to lift its seven year old ban on beef from animals over 30 months old entering the food chain.
That decision may have to be delayed, because BSE is still being found in the UK in a worrying number of cattle aged over seven years.
