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Gulf countries lift ban on Irish meat

The ban introduced by six Middle-Easter countries following BSE crisis was scrapped after successful inspection.

A DECADE-LONG ban on the export of Irish beef and sheep meat has been lifted in a number of Middle Eastern countries.

The bans, which have been in place because of legacy concerns over BSE and the sheep equivalent scrapie, have been overturned in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said that the decision is a result of the efforts of his department, Bord Bia and various embassies which saw a successful inspection visit to Ireland by a veterinary delegation from the GCC in February of this year.

The minister added that the oil-rich region has a combined population of almost 43.5 million people and offers Irish beef and lamb exporters tremendous opportunities as a result of being a significant net importer of food products.

The agri-food industry is seen as one of the most important export sectors in the economy with exported produce of over €9 billion in 2012 and the value of Irish agri-food exports outside Europe a particular target for improvement.

Read: Progress made on CAP reform as Luxembourg meetings continue >

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27 Comments
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    Mute MasterMcMan
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    Jul 9th 2013, 1:22 PM

    Iraq of lamb

    212
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    Mute RP McMurphy
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    Jul 9th 2013, 1:24 PM

    Lets hope Mr Goodman doesn’t let his greed destroy the export business again now that its re-established. Well done to all concerned.

    117
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    Mute Paul Murphy
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    Jul 9th 2013, 1:59 PM

    Would you like to tell us which countries? FFS

    32
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    Mute Paul Murphy
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    Jul 9th 2013, 2:03 PM

    I only ask, because Irish beef has been on the shelf in the UAE for at least 3 years…

    38
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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Jul 9th 2013, 6:57 PM

    Or so they told you…

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    Mute robert murphy
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    Jul 9th 2013, 2:16 PM

    I wonder if we export much venison. Problem is you need a lot of Doe as it’s very deer.

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    Mute mcgoo
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    Jul 9th 2013, 1:36 PM

    We’ll have to set up the Phoenix Park and Stephens Green for grazing shortly I’d say

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    Mute James J Mac Kenna
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    Jul 9th 2013, 3:25 PM

    I would like to remind everyone that these unfortunate animals will die a horrible death in order to conform to Islamic tradition of slaughter. We should do as Australia did and ban the export of cattle to the Middle East on animal welfare grounds.

    23
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    Mute Mjhint
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    Jul 9th 2013, 7:36 PM

    James thats a fact of life. Anyway we can kill them here & animal welfare wont be an issue as the animal will be dead. So lets do the halal kill here put them in a trailer & take it to the middleeast. Plenty of work for everyone.

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    Mute James J Mac Kenna
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    Jul 10th 2013, 12:36 AM

    I don’t care if the halal killing takes place in Ireland or oversees it is brutal and should be stopped.

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    Mute gingerman
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    Jul 9th 2013, 2:29 PM

    Most of those involved in this key success were Public sector workers. Shock horror

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    Mute Darren Norris
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    Jul 9th 2013, 3:32 PM

    Yes, after only a short 10 year period they finally got the ban lifted. Efficient

    31
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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Jul 9th 2013, 7:02 PM

    Who recommended and approved and oversaw adding animals to animal feed.

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    Mute Ted Carroll
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    Jul 9th 2013, 2:22 PM

    Genuine question but is there really excess capacity of Irish beef stocks that they need to shift to the Middle East or will this be filled by cutting less lucrative markets?

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    Mute William Bayle
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    Jul 9th 2013, 2:40 PM

    Ted that was my point Irish beef is becoming more and more a luxury item ( for all the right reasons to it s ,due to weather conditions, one of the best in d world ) but soon Irish consumers are going to be priced out of the market especially with china looking at lifting the ban up to ( one of the reason why we ve been so cosy with them in the last while ) . Soon we ll be eating Brazilian and Argentinian beef . Mark my words

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    Mute RP McMurphy
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    Jul 9th 2013, 7:48 PM

    @william….soon? We have been eating S American beef for nigh on 15 yrs already. Sad but true.

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    Mute William Bayle
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    Jul 9th 2013, 8:48 PM

    please explain where is american beef been served ? Most of the places serving beef claim it to be Irish and controles are pretty rigorous so please explain your claim ?

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Jul 9th 2013, 10:48 PM

    William, many a lasagne claiming to be made with 100% beef have turned out to be anything but. The tests aren’t as rigorous as you would think.

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    Mute William Bayle
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    Jul 9th 2013, 11:18 PM

    Point taken but I wasn’t talking about processed food (you get what you pay for ! ) I was talking about restaurants and shop here selling Irish beef the traceability system here is pretty strict at every stage

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    Mute Steve Hardy
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    Jul 9th 2013, 1:26 PM

    Daisy just poohed herself.

    15
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    Mute William Bayle
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    Jul 9th 2013, 1:41 PM

    And the price of the beef in your local butcher and restaurant is going to keep going up and up ! Kiss good bye to the Sunday roast beef Carvery for a tener !

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Jul 9th 2013, 10:50 PM

    Here in Holland having steak or roast is a delicacy. Having Irish steak is a crippler to your wallet. Irish people take how cheap beef is compared to elsewhere for granted.

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    Mute William Bayle
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    Jul 9th 2013, 11:15 PM

    Agreed completely ! And love destroying it by getting it overwell done !!

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    Mute Patrick
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    Jul 9th 2013, 5:11 PM

    Middle easter ? wtf is that

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    Mute Justin Donoghue
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    Jul 9th 2013, 7:33 PM

    Easter Saturday

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    Mute Eoin Darcy
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    Jul 9th 2013, 3:05 PM

    Didn’t we already get approval in February when we past that inspection?recycling beef (stories)got us into the mess in the first place. :)

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