China suspends Irish beef imports after bluetongue outbreak in Wexford
Vivienne Clarke and Eva Osborne
Irish agriculture officials are engaging with their Chinese counterparts to calm concerns over the bluetongue virus.
China has suspended imports of Irish beef after 11 cases of the virus were confirmed in cattle in Co Wexford this week.
Just this month, China agreed to lift its previous ban on Irish beef following a visit by Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
On January 22nd, post-slaughter sampling found a culled suckler cow to be antibody positive for bluetongue. The cow originated from a herd in Wexford, according to the Irish Examiner.
The bluetongue virus has now been detected in three additional herds in Wexford, all of which are located near the initial herd where the virus was detected.
In the initial herd, there have been a total of seven cattle identified who have tested positive for the disease.
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said there is no threat to human health and there were no food safety concerns about the discovery of bluetongue in 11 animals in four herds which has led China to suspend imports of Irish beef.
“This is a production disease, there is no human health, no food safety concerns at all, but it does have implications for trade, particularly trade of live animals,” he told Newstalk Breakfast.
“With countries outside of Europe, it doesn't have any implications on trade of meat or dairy produce and it has very little impact on trade with Europe, but beyond Europe to third countries, every country can set its own requirements in a trade certificate with us, so countries like China have protocols where we notify them this is a notifiable disease and then as a standard procedure they cease importation of that produce and we will engage we will give them the full epidemiological breakdown we have massive traceability of our animals.
“We've seen it in the past when access has been broken and interrupted with China. Ultimately the timing is on their side. We engage with the General Administration of Customs in China called the GAC and they are the competent authority there.
“Officials from my department are regularly dealing with them and our officials in our embassy in Beijing, we were working on the protocol.
"We were working on that cert as we worked on other certs being revised in recent years identifying the fact that bluetongue and other diseases are more prevalent now and likely to come and don't have a food safety or an impact from that regard so we'll continue to engage with them but ultimately the final decision will be down to them.”
Mr Heydon said that while the result was disappointing, it was not surprising as the virus was “rampant” across England, Wales, and all of Europe.
“So we were monitoring wind patterns last year during the very warm weather to see when the wind pattern might blow the midge activity from France and from Wales and beyond.”
