Live exports to Belgium recover despite IBR
Nearly 4,000 animals have gone to Belgium so far this year, in a renewed trade which had collapsed from 21,757 in 2014 to about 1,000 across 2015 and 2016.
The upsurge in the trade has come as a surprise amid widespread warnings that our live cattle trade would be hit by changes in animal health rules across the EU, particularly in Belgium, but also in the Netherlands.
Here, Animal Health Ireland (AHI) has proposed a programme to eradicate IBR from the national herd, subject to a positive cost-benefit analysis, and a mandate from AHI stakeholders.
AHI chairman Mike Magan has warned that this programme will be crucial to the success of Ireland’s continued export of, for example, quality weanlings.
