Cattle from the Republic of Ireland can be slaughtered in Northern Ireland (NI) and enter the market in Britain unfettered, even if there is no trade deal between the EU and UK after 1 January.

This was stated by NI Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to the Assembly’s agriculture, environment and rural affairs committee meeting on Thursday morning.

No access for carcases or boneless beef

He also said that beef carcases brought up from the south by NI meat factories for deboning and processing would not qualify for tariff-free access, nor would boneless beef.

This is particularly significant, as almost 18,000t of bone in beef went from south to north in 2019, along with 7,300t of boneless beef (source: Bord Bia).

However, the demand for cattle from northern buyers, and indeed factories importing cattle directly for slaughter, would increase.

So far this year, 60,406 live cattle have gone north, compared with 31,598 last year (source: Bord Bia).

The Minister also spoke about the £250m (€275m) beef that comes into NI from Britain each year for processing, saying that it would be challenging to resolve issues around this if there was no deal because of tariff implications on product from this entering EU markets.

Significant

IFA President Tim Cullinan said the Minister’s comments on the continued access was significant.

“Live exports to date this year to NI of over 60,000 cattle are primarily for direct slaughter and is up 91% on 2019. Today's confirmation ensures this vital market outlet will not be affected by Brexit and is predicted to grow further in 2021,” he said.

Tim Cullinan said the NI market provides vital competition for Irish beef farmers with finished cattle and has performed very strongly this year.

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