Moves by the US government to relax a ban on European beef imports which has been in place since the late 1990s has been welcomed by EU leaders and the Irish Farmers Association (IFA).
A draft law was published in Washington yesterday which, if approved will see the lifting a ban that was put in place in the wake of the BSE crisis in 1997.
At a press conference yesterday announcing the draft legislation, the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said Ireland was one of three European countries which could begin exporting beef to the US soonest as it has already fulfilled a range of strict criteria.
A spokesman for EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos described the news as a significant step towards a resolution of the long term import ban
IFA President John Bryan said "the move to the US market for Irish beef would be a major prize and should be pursued vigorously."
Ireland East MEP Mairead McGuinness has given a cautious welcome to the news. "Yesterday the US published this "draft law" aimed at aligning its rules on bovine imports with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) standards
on BSE," she said.
"Next week in Strasbourg MEPs will vote on a controversial proposal to allow an increase in tariff-free quota of high quality US beef to the EU," she
said.
Ms McGuinness said during the debates in the Agriculture Committee she stressed the need for the US to examine its current restrictions on imports of beef
from the EU
"While the two issues are not directly connected, I am pleased that the US authorities have responded to our concerns and I welcome the initiative of
yesterday which will assess the status of the beef import ban in the USA which has been in place since 1997.
"Politically the issues of market access for US beef to the EU and for EU beef to the USA are linked," she said. The MEP said that the draft US rule is a first step in the process of removing the restrictions on EU beef to the USA. "It may be some time
before EU beef enters the US market, possibly 2013, if there are no legal obstacles in the USA to this draft rule. However, it is an mportant first step.
"My understanding is that MEPs are likely to support the proposal for an increase in the quota of high quality US beef into the EU. For those of us with reservations, the announcement of the "draft law" provides some comfort that our concerns about market access to the US are being addressed," she said.