Big push for beef export scheme

By James Campbell

A big push was being made this week for early introduction of the Date Based Export Scheme (DBES) for Northern Ireland beef.

Ulster Farmers' Union President Will Taylor says that the other UK Farmers' Unions have given him an undertaking that they will not oppose early introduction of the DBES in Northern Ireland, even if it means moving ahead of the scheme's implementation in Britain.

During a visit to Granville Meats in Dungannon on Wednesday, UK Agriculture Minister Nick Brown was shown the extra conditions and costs involved in that factory operating as a "dedicated" export facility. Chairman Derek Shaw and other representatives of Granville/Milltown Meats stressed the need for maximum throughput of cattle for viable operation of the factory. The DBES is seen as a means under which more cattle in NI can be eligible for export.

The DBES could replace the Export Certified Herds Scheme under which cattle numbers eligible are barely sufficient to maintain a satisfactory throughput at Granville. This difficulty is in spite of bonuses being offered to encourage farmers to segregate these animals and have them killed at the farmer-owned factory.

Granville Meats management claim that they could implement the DBES tomorrow if given the go-ahead. Meanwhile there appears to be great reluctance among slaughterhouse operators in Britain to take on the "dedicated" export role and the restrictions which go with it. Identification of export eligible cattle in GB is also a problem, particularly the details of dams having survived for six months.

On Wednesday Nick Brown told the Journal that he already had a very tight timetable to have the DBES underway for the whole of the UK by late Spring or early Summer. However the Minister said that if Northern Ireland meat industry representatives preferred to have the DBES rather than the current Export Certified Herds Scheme then he would be very happy to have Northern Ireland "spearhead" date-based beef exports.

Representatives of the NI Meat Exporters' Association were also meeting Nick Brown on Wednesday. A spokesman told the Journal that NIMEA would be pressing for early introduction of the DBES in Northern Ireland and for regional identification of NI beef in veterinary health certification and labelling.