Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal from South Korea on Wednesday, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue confirmed that he has secured commitment from the chair of South Korea’s agriculture, food, rural affairs, oceans and fisheries committee to progress access for Irish beef by the end of this year.

Access has been agreed at ministerial level since May 2021, but has to be approved by the national assembly before coming into effect.

Part of that process involves scrutiny by the committee and getting its approval is a key milestone in the access process, with full assembly approval expected shortly afterwards.

Minister McConalogue also said that officials are currently working on having the certification process in place for whenever approval is granted.

When asked by the Irish Farmers Journal if he had hoped to go further on this visit and secure a start date for Irish beef exports, the Minister said that was never realistic, but getting agreement from the committee chair to have it moved on by the end of the year removes the major bottleneck.