Meat factories including the Kepak plant at Athleague, Co Roscommon, are continuing to slaughter livestock as usual this week.
However, animals must be supplied directly from farm to factory. And industry sources say that provided the Border is properly sealed, there should not be any problem with this level of movement.
Kepak, which slaughtered 248 lambs originating in Britain on February 20th, the day foot-and-mouth disease was confirmed in the north of England, is one of the bigger importers of lamb from the UK.
It was one of the processing plants highlighted by the Irish Farmers' Association in 1998 for importing lamb from Britain and Northern Ireland. But a Kepak spokesman said yesterday that the company "had instituted a policy from years back of not taking lambs from the UK." He said the decision was taken around the time of the IFA protests. "They (Kepak) feel they have a tradition of very good contact with their farmers," he said.
A video recording was made by the IFA of lorries carrying sheep, and trucks were followed from the Border to the factories. "These trucks were travelling in the middle of the night. We followed one from Larne," an IFA representative recalled.
At that time it was believed that up to 20,000 lambs a week were being imported. Importation of livestock in normal times is perfectly legal. But it is illegal to represent these animals as having originated in this State and then claim a VAT refund.
The Kepak official confirmed that the cheque for the lambs supplied to the factory on February 20th had been cashed, but declined to say where. He did say that this information had been supplied to the Department of Agriculture as it was "part of the bigger picture. All details connected with anything the company knows were offered to the Department."
The man who supplied the lambs was known to Kepak but he understood he was not a regular supplier. Asked if he was a dealer, he replied: "Not really, maybe years back."
Kepak does not want to comment on whether it has been able to trace where the lamb processed on February 20th has gone. The spokesman said that the lambs were slaughtered in the morning and would have left the plant in Roscommon that afternoon.
"They can't say anything without causing another ripple of concern. The Department are alerted and are aware of everything," he said.
Mr Patrick Rogan, deputy chief veterinary officer with the Department of Agriculture and Food, said yesterday that because of the rapid air chill facilities in the Athleague plant, the meat would have left the factory immediately.
It would have been exported to various markets, but the Department did not have the precise details yet. "It's not a question of Kepak not telling us. They are assembling the information for us," he said.
A plant that processes animals found to have foot-and-mouth disease has to be closed and disinfected, and cannot reopen until the veterinary authorities are satisfied that all infection has been cleared. There is no specified duration for closure.
If an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease occurs here, every meat plant would not necessarily have to close, Mr Rogan confirmed. Britain had closed all its plants but there had been quite a number of outbreaks.
The EU has imposed a ban on the export of food from Britain, but there is no set duration for such a ban. That would depend on how quickly the disease could be contained. It is also possible that if the outbreak was contained in just one area, food products might be allowed out of the rest of the country.
While some British food products obviously have been removed from foodstores, no shortages of products have been reported yet.
Mr John Smith, chief executive of the Irish Meat Association, said demand for Irish beef and lamb in Britain has been strengthening since the British factories were closed.