Webinar on Renewable Energy

Meat Industry Ireland (MII) today welcomed the progress made on access to the US market for Irish lamb, but has warned that action is needed to address quota barriers to beef exports.

The lamb import market in the US is over 160,000 tonnes and is currently dominated by imports from Australia and New Zealand. Last year, Ireland’s beef exports to the US were valued at €36m, but unless the import quota roadblock is resolved this will not be repeated in 2022.

Irish lamb should now be on shelves in the coming months once the final stages of completing access requirements are completed. Irish lamb processors are currently working with the authorities to have facilities approved, following Sunday’s announcement by the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue TD of an agreement on a sheepmeat export health certificate for the US. 

A key concern MII is raising on the trip relates to the disruption of Irish beef exports to the US due to the import market being swamped by Brazilian beef. Due to the return of Brazilian beef in the US market, the import quota that importers of Irish beef use, which would normally fill up towards the end of each year was completely filled by early April this year. This now presents a major difficulty for Irish beef to enter the US market competitively.