Beef ban is lifted after 10 years (From Gazette & Herald)

Beef ban is lifted after 10 years

BEEF farmers are celebrating after a decade-long ban on British beef exports was lifted.

North and East Yorkshire beef can once again be sold around the world - a lucrative market worth millions of pounds.

The European Union vets' committee approved a resolution meaning live animals born after August 1, 1996, as well as beef and beef products, can be exported once again.

Mike Powley, a beef farmer from Green Hammerton, near York, said he was delighted at the decision.

He said: "The ban was the one thing that really stuck between beef farmers and a fair price.

"Having been to various events, talks and discussions about this over the last 12 months, I know there is a huge amount of interest in getting British beef back into the markets we used to have.

"The demand is there - it's now just a matter of supplying it.

"The export industry will take a while to re-establish itself, but at the moment the price of beef in Europe is substantially higher than it is here, so if we are able to sell at a higher price it has got to be good for us."

The National Farmers' Union said the lifting of the ban was "the most positive news for the British beef industry in a decade".

NFU president Peter Kendall said: "We can now look forward to recapturing the £675m market that was lost when the ban was put in place.

"This decision should create competition in the domestic market and provide access to potentially lucrative continental buyers."

George Pilling, a beef farmer from Melbourne in East Yorkshire, said: "This is certainly a move in the right direction, but how many countries will be prepared to take British beef?

"This is good news, but the export market will not take off like a rocket. It will be something that has to be built up again gradually, over time."

But John Clark, an organic beef farmer from Cropton, near Pickering, said: "I cannot see any justification in moving live animals across the European continent.

"Even the export of carcasses is questionable - we actually import and export similar amounts of meat, so why do we bother?

"What is really needed for beef farming is a guaranteed minimum price.

"We have a minimum wage, so why not a minimum farm gate price? That would mean we don't have to be chasing round world markets at all."

Exports can resume once the European Commission has formally adopted the legislation - which is expected to take about six weeks.

Updated: 15:13 Wednesday, March 15, 2006