Negotiations begin for £120m China beef and lamb export deal
20 Jun 2014 10:33 AM
British beef and lamb
could be heading to China in a new agreement that could be worth up to
£120m to the UK economy each year.
Owen Paterson welcomed a new
agreement between Defra and the Chinese authorities to begin negotiations on
opening export routes for British beef and lamb suppliers to China, achieved
during UK and China trade talks hosted by the Prime Minister and the Foreign
Office.
This landmark agreement is the
first time that talks have opened since restrictions relating to BSE were
imposed on British beef and lamb in the 1980s.
Environment Secretary Owen
Paterson said:
This landmark agreement will be
a great boost to British food exporters, a major part of our long-term economic
plan, and could be worth millions to our economy. British beef and lamb is
excellent quality so I welcome the opportunity to begin talks with the Chinese
government to open trade routes for these great products once
again.
With UK food and drink exports
soaring to £18.9bn in 2013 – a marked increased from 2009’s
figure of £16.4bn – this agreement is the latest step in four years
of record food and drink export growth.
It follows Owen Paterson’s
successful visit to China last year with the Prime Minister, where he secured
an export deal for pork products worth up to £45m for the UK and his
meeting with Minister Zhi on 1st April. UK food and drink exports to China were
worth £257m last year. Defra ministers have frequently visited priority
overseas markets such as China to champion the best of British
food.
Chairman of Eblex, John Cross
said:
This agreement is a major step
forward in our negotiations to help secure market access to China for our beef
and lamb. It is something we have been working on for some time already,
together with Government and a number of other agencies. It is a long haul
project but the potential prize is very big for the UK. As the most rapidly
growing market in the world for beef and lamb, China presents enormous
opportunities for UK exporters.
We very much welcome the latest
developments and look forward to working with Government to take these
negotiations forward