British pork gets Taiwan green light

08-Aug-2018 - Last updated on 08-Aug-2018 at 09:10 GMT

Taiwan has opened its doors to UK pork

Taiwan has given approval for the importing of British pork in a deal that could be worth £50m over five years.

The deal is expected to allow UK exporters to further tap in to the overseas demand for parts of the pig carcass that are not commonly purchased in the UK, such as offal, offering potential for UK farmers and pork processors to be able to generate income for the whole carcass.

Acording to HMRC figures, UK pork exports were worth £290m to the economy last year, reaching over 80 export markets. This new agreement with Taiwan is expected to be worth more than £50m over the next five years.

The deal was been secured by the UK Government, working with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and UK Export Certification Partnership (UKECP). Exporters can take advantage of the market as soon as the administrative listing process is completed and export certification is made available.

Last month, China lifted its two-decade long ban on UK beef exports following the BSE outbreak, in an agreement which will allow official market access negotiations to begin. This is estimated to be worth over £250m in the first five years alone.

AHDB international market development director Dr Phil Hadley said: “We estimate that the value to the UK to be in excess of £50m based on current UK export capacity but if this were to rise to match the strong demand for pork imports in Taiwan, where last year alone imports rose by 26% to US$178.3m, the opportunity could be worth more than £100m over the next five years. This is an exciting development and a great step forward for the UK and Taiwan.”

Food minister George Eustice said: "Access to this new market in Taiwan is great news for our farmers and producers and gives a welcome boost to the pork production industry - already worth £1.3 billion to the UK economy. This is a significant development for pork exporters and reinforces our reputation for producing high quality food and drink, guaranteeing quality from farm to fork."

International trade minister, George Hollingbery added: "Following years of hard work by UK government, the opening of the Taiwanese market to British pork will bring significant benefits to UK pork exporters. This follows a record level of UK food and drink exports last year.

"This only goes to highlight the UK’s world-famous reputation for high-quality produce, and we are committed to maintaining those high standards as we leave the EU next spring."

2 comments

Response to Lynne

Posted by Aidan Fortune, 13 August 2018 - 09:06 GMT

Thank you for your comment Lynne. In order to provide the best response, we contacted the Department of International Trade. A Government spokesperson said:

“Taiwan’s decision to open its market to British pork is specific to the UK as we have now met all of their requirements to do so. This is the result of a sustained effort by the British Office in Taipei, DIT, DEFRA and our Taiwanese counterparts.

“Currently less than half of EU member states can export pork to Taiwan. The market will remain open to the UK after Brexit."

They also went to detail that it's a deal for Taiwan to allow the UK access to its market as the UK now meets all of its requirements and can be agreed while a member of the EU.

Hope this helps.

Aidan

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U.K. trade deal?

Posted by Lynne Copland, 10 August 2018 - 12:40 GMT

My understanding is that this deal has been done through the EU. Please correct me if I’m wrong...I thought that the U.K. couldn’t do trade deals on their own behalf until they are out of the EU. If it is the case that the deal is an EU wide one , then wouldn’t the deal require to be renegotiated post Brexit? If this isn’t solely a U.K. deal then the headline and content is misleading.

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