China opens markets to Irish beef

On April 16, the Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, announced that China had opened its markets to Irish beef. “The opening of this key market presents an excellent opportunity for the Irish beef sector, from farmers through to processors, in line with the market development theme of our Food Wise strategy,” Creed said in an official statement. “This decision also represents a powerful endorsement of Ireland’s high standards by the Chinese Administration, for which food safety is a prerequisite for trade.” The official statement estimated the value of Irish food trade to China at Ђ1 billion ($1.24 billion). Though Ireland is a relatively small producer of beef, it has recently made a lot of inroads into markets that are valuable to the U.S. for beef export. Ireland was also recently cleared to export beef into the U.S. in 2016. — WLJ