There has been widespread positive media coverage as government secures the end of China’s Covid-era restrictions on UK unprocessed pork.
Publications including The Sun, The Mirror, Pig World, Express and Star, Farmers Guide and The i amongst others covered the announcement, as major UK producers get the green light to restart their exports immediately.
China bought around £180 million worth of pigmeat in 2023 alone – making them the UK’s biggest non-EU customer. Now, with these restrictions lifted, industry estimates this could boost revenues by around £80 million.
The development comes after top-level talks during the Foreign Secretary's recent visit to China. Representatives from Defra and the Department for Business and Trade have worked to get British pork back on Chinese menus in collaboration with industry.
Minister for Food Security Daniel Zeichner said:
This is a massive win for British pork producers who will now be able to send their high-quality products to one of our largest markets, worth £180 million.
It’s a further example of this government delivering on our Plan for Change, boosting growth and benefitting businesses across the country.
Our pork is world-famous for its quality, and now we can give Chinese customers what they're hungry for.
Trade Minister Douglas Alexander said:
Economic growth is at the heart of everything this government does, and opening export opportunities is vital in achieving that.
China is already a huge market for UK pork businesses who exported £180 million of products to China last year alone. Today's announcement will be welcome news for British farmers and producers who have been affected by the suspension and could grow British pork exports even further.
Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Jorge Martin-Almagro said:
The reopening of the China market for the affected companies is fantastic news.
China is a crucial market for UK pork and this advance opens opportunities for our industry to continue to grow our exports. This achievement is a testament to the significant collaboration between Government and industry to resolve a longstanding issue.
3 comments
Comment by John w. Baxter posted on
I do look at the labelling very closely and conclude that whoever labels food packaging with eg UK Y001 fails to easily guide the purchaser to where that food was processed…….it is time that FSA smartened up the guidance to consumers who find in small print that the Christmas smoked ham they found to have a GB label was processed from EU pork. The system is laughable and fails to serve shoppers who need information in large and clear unambiguous labelling whilst shopping.
We do care where our food comes from as much as we care about where our food products,live or processed, are shipped to…….and we do not have to be ashamed of what we do ..we have become reliant on authorities enforcing rules and regulations around our food and when failures occur on the scale we are about to witness if it comes out we have cause to be concerned.
need to see
Comment by John w. Baxter posted on
It bothers me that such products as our pork have been allowed to be labelled as such by bandits who seem to have out manoeuvred our authorities , especially at import points and allowed so much non British pork into our country.
I hope we have woken up to our inadequacies and do not end up with imported pork labelled as British finding its way to China………which reminds me that the story seems to have been buried. Is that true?.
Comment by PETER HUNT posted on
Yet our supermarkets still import masses of pork and, presumably, their customers, you and me, buy it without looking at the packaging to see where it comes from. Or perhaps we don't care.