BSE ban ends after 17 years: Egyptian beef market reopens

THE announcement that beef exports are to resume to Egypt, after a gap of 17 years, must be welcomed. The news will help a thriving export business and should go some small way towards restoring some farm incomes.

Last June there were 6.96 million cattle in the Republic and we exported around 500,000 tonnes of beef worth approximately €2.41bn. In the same year, 178,000 live cattle were exported in a business that generated approximately €135m. We produce more than six times the beef needed to satisfy domestic consumption.

Egypt is the largest consumer market in the Middle East or North Africa, and is the third-biggest destination for Irish agri-food products in Africa with exports of €45m in 2015. These are significant figures and show us how much we lost because of the 1990s BSE crisis, a catastrophe that still casts a shadow over our capacity to export but one, thankfully, receding each year. This decision is a reminder of the absolute importance of bio-security in our food production chain and maintaining the highest standards in farming. Though we are dependent on markets like Egypt, they have alternatives should they decide our standards do not meet theirs.