The United States has eased its ban on imports of animals and raw meat products from the European Union. The ban was imposed ten weeks ago because of foot and mouth disease. However, imports from Ireland and four other countries which had foot and mouth are still prohibited. A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture in Dublin said that a delegation from the US Department of Agriculture is expected to visit here in two weeks time and it is hoped that full trade will be resumed then. Only about £10m worth of pig meat has been hit by the ban. £300m worth of exports of dairy products and food ingredients has proceeded under certification during the embargo.
Meanwhile, the Russian authorities are to resume imports of Irish beef and pork. This trade was worth £30m last year and it is expected the figure will be higher this year. Russia was one of the many countries which banned imports from Ireland because of foot and mouth. But over the past few days a number of countries said that they were ready to buy Irish products again. Spain agreed to import young cattle from yesterday and Lebanon is to import older cattle.
During the mid nineties, Russia had emerged as one of the biggest importers of Irish beef, but the trade dropped sharply following the collapse of the Russian economy. Because of BSE, a number of counties are not allowed to sell into Russia. The counties currently banned are Cavan, Monaghan, Meath, Cork, Wexford and Limerick.
Because of the foot and mouth outbreak, none of the countries re-opening will take exports from County Louth until the middle of June. Minister for Agriculture, Joe Walsh, said that the Russian decision is a further expression of confidence by a major international customer in the safety of Irish food products.
The IFA leader Tom Parlon welcomed the development as another positive step in recapturing international markets. Pat O'Rourke, President of the ICMSA said that it is excellent news and a further confidence boost for Irish farmers. Charlie Reilly of ICSA said that earlier predictions about the autumn were too pessimistic, especially when beef is not now plentiful on the world market. However, a major diplomatic effort is still underway to win back the crucial Egyptian market.
In a separate development, samples from a sheep on a farm near Buncrana in County Donegal have been sent to Pirbright for foot and mouth tests. The animal, on a farm at Quigley's Point, was found to have mouth lesions but the rest of the flock is normal. The Department of Agriculture said that the tests were purely precautionary and there were no great concerns.
Meanwhile, there were nine cases of BSE in Ireland in May. With 55 cases so far, it is two down on the same period last year.
