The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D., today announced that a further 3 Irish beef plants and 1 pigmeat plant have now been approved by the Chinese authorities and listed by CNCA, the Chinese Certification and Accreditation Agency, which is part of the recently established Chinese Agency, the State Market Regulatory Administration.
This announcement follows closely on from the beef market opening in April and directly from the Ministerial discussions during the successful Trade Mission to China lead by the Minister in May. During this mission it was agreed these plants had met the required standard and could be registered shortly.
The Minister noted “I am very pleased that the Chinese officials in CNCA have been able to complete this part of the registration process so quickly and efficiently, despite the wide range of countries seeking beef access to China and many demands on their time. It is a very significant sign of the respect for our food safety systems and of the high regard in which the entire Irish meat industry, from field and farmer through to fork is held.”
The Minister said “This is a testament to my Department’s work on market access in pursuing and advancing market access through both a wide range of technical and official work and also through relevant diplomatic and political channels. Increasing market opportunities for our exporters is a key component of the Food Wise 2025 strategy and our response to Brexit.” The Minister added that “This will bring to eleven the number of Irish meat plants, excluding Coldstores, which are approved to export to China – six beef plants and five pigmeat plants. The geographic spread of these plants, with knock on benefits to our farmers all across the country, is also notable.”
Total Irish agri-food trade exports to China reached €974 million last year. China is now our third largest market overall. Dairy exports reached €667 million and pig-meat exports were over €100 million in 2017. These were the two largest categories of food exported to China, and for both of these commodities China was the second largest destination market (CSO trade statistics). China is also a growing market for seafood and other food and drink exports.
According to USDA forecasts China is expected to consume over 8.5 million tonnes of beef in 2018. This is more than any other country outside the USA and almost 4% ahead of 2017 consumption levels.
The List of Plants approved by CNCA is available at the following link.
Original Press Release, click here.
