Concerns surrounding the potential impact of coronavirus on global trade and Irish agri-food exports have been raised by the chief executive of Bord Bia. Speaking at Queen’s University Belfast on Thursday, Tara McCarthy said that while coronavirus is mainly a health issue at present, it “could quickly become a trade issue”.

“Our office in China has been looking at this very carefully and feeding back to us what’s actually happening with this virus and how is it affecting trade. Our first initial response is that it's going to hit us on the ports because people aren’t working on the ports in China,” McCarthy said.

The Bord Bia chief said that lorry drivers within China are required to go into a 14-day quarantine before moving from one area of China to another, which is making it difficult to transport products.

“These are implications that, unexpectedly, our industry is being hit with,” McCarthy said.

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Coronavirus could become a trade issue – Bord Bia chief

Bord Bia's office in China has been looking at the potential impact of the coronavirus outbreak on trade.