Other EU countries will 'soon follow' as commission welcomes Irish beef access to South Korea
In 2001, the Korean market was closed to imports from 15 EU member states due to outbreaks of BSE.
Irish beef export access to South Korea is a "significant development" for the EU's beef industry, the European Commission has said.
South Korea has officially opened market access for beef from both Ireland and France.
This is one of the biggest import markets for beef in the world.
The commission said it anticipates that other member states will "soon follow in being able to export beef to the Republic of Korea, further deepening our trading relationship".
In 2001, the Korean market was closed to imports from 15 EU member states due to outbreaks of BSE.
Yet, despite its stringent measures guaranteeing the safety of EU beef, the union faced a trade blockade from the early 2000s onwards.
Following extensive discussions with the European Commission, the Republic of Korea re-opened its market to EU beef from Denmark and the Netherlands in 2019.
Now, five years later, this recognition has been extended to beef from Ireland and France.
The EU is a major net exporter of beef, exporting 1.05m tonnes of beef in 2023, and importing 289,000 tonnes, for a sectoral trade surplus of 761,000 tonnes.
In May, announcing the opening of South Korea to beef, Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue said this market was "designated as a priority market for access for Irish beef".
"My department has been active in pursuit of this objective working for many years through the very detailed application process. I used the opportunity to push the case for Irish beef during my visit to Seoul last October," he said.
"With a population of over 50m people, there is huge potential for Irish agri-food exporters to grow their footprint in the sophisticated Korean market. For beef, the door has now been opened and there is a real opportunity for the industry to build on."
South Korean consumers are the highest per-capita consumers of meat across Asia, with consumption of 79kg per person. Of this, 17kg is beef. Furthermore, beef consumption is predicted to grow by 1% year-on-year over the next four years.
Coupled with this increasing demand, South Korea is only 35% self-sufficient in beef production, meaning it relies heavily on imported beef to satisfy its sizeable demand.
In 2020, South Korea imported almost 500,000t of beef, of which 92% came from the US and Australia.
Seven Irish beef plants have been approved for exporting to South Korea.
