Beef exports should feature in Ireland-China talks, says think tank
The head of an Ireland-Asia think tank has said he hopes the ban on beef exports to China will be on the table when Taoiseach Leo Varadkar hosts Chinese premier Li Qiang this week.
China’s second most powerful politician after President Xi Jinping will meet Mr Varadkar for bilateral talks in Dublin on Wednesday.
Beef exports from Ireland to China were suspended when a case of atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) was discovered by Irish veterinary officials in November.
At the time, the Department of Agriculture said the case was detected as part of its “ongoing surveillance of ‘fallen’ animals at ‘knackeries’”.
It said tests carried out at the department’s Central Veterinary Research Laboratory confirmed the case, a cow which was more than 10 years old, of atypical BSE – the first time since 2020.
Ireland’s beef exports to China were worth almost 40 million euro in 2019.
By Cillian Sherlock | Belfast Telegraph
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