Lifting of ban major step forward towards US access for Irish lamb

Despite low domestic production, US consumer demand has increased significantly over the last decade, growing by between two and three per cent annually.

File picture. SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images

The US has taken an important step towards opening access for European mutton and lamb lifting a decades' long ban on sheep meat exports from the EU.

The ban was first introduced as a response to the BSE crisis in the 1990s.