British beef could soon be heading to the US after government officials agreed the next step of an export deal worth around £66m over the first five years.
The US has agreed equivalence of standards on the UK’s disease control measures following a three-week inspection last summer.
It means that after the final administrative details are carried out, British beef can be shipped to the United States.
It comes after an ongoing process of negotiations between the AHDB, Defra, APHA, FSA, Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) and other organisations including UKECP.
The inspections in August 2019 included tours of five beef sites, four pork and lamb, as well as several laboratories.
The aim of the visit was to progress approval for British beef and lamb exports and achieve ongoing approval of pork exports to the American marketplace.
AHDB International Market Development Director, Dr Phil Hadley said the announcement is a boost for the farming industry.
"Today’s announcement is a crucial step in our ambitions to gain market access for our beef and lamb, to go with our existing pork trade, to the all-important US market," he said.
“We have worked collaboratively with industry and government to get this agreement and we will continue to work to get this partnership over the line and to see our products in the US market.
"Once the final administrative details are carried out, commercial trade will begin.”
It comes as figures show that 2019 was one of the best years on record for UK red meat exports - rocketing to more than £1.5 billion.
According to HMRC, the total value of red meat exports rose 13% year-on-year, with more than 661,000 tonnes of pork, lamb and beef shipped around the world.
