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China is to lift its ban on UK beef, British prime minister Theresa May has announced.
The move is expected to take effect within six months and will also allow for the export of a broader range of British dairy products to China.
Speaking in Beijing on Wednesday, May said: “To pave the way for this ambitious future trading relationship, we have agreed new measures to improve market access in China and remove barriers to trade.”
She said that the new measures include an agreement to make progress on lifting the BSE ban on British beef exports within the next six months and also an agreement to allow Britain to export a broader range of dairy products.
“Trade between our two countries is already at record levels, worth over £59bn. UK exports to China have grown by over 60% since 2010.
“The UK is already one of the largest European recipients of Chinese Foreign Direct Investment. The UK is the world’s largest exporter of financial services and UK firms are leaders in China’s market,” she said.
China has banned UK beef imports since the BSE crisis of the 1990s.
Irish access to China
Three years ago this month, China lifted the ban on Irish beef imports. Negotiations are ongoing between Ireland and China as to when exactly Irish beef will land on Chinese shores.
Last week, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed mentioned that Ireland hoped to gain access to the Chinese beef market in the near future, saying: “We would be very disappointed if we didn’t crack that in 2018.”
In April 2017, Ireland signed a formal protocol on the export of frozen beef from Ireland to China. This was described by the Minister Creed as “another major milestone in the process of getting Irish beef into the Chinese market”.
Meanwhile, speaking last week at the Lismullin farming conference the assistant secretary general at the Department of Agriculture, Sinéad McPhillips, said that the ball is in China’s court on Irish beef access.
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