Major agri-food lift as pork exports to Australia begin

The announcement came after DAERA and the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR) agreed a new veterinary health certificate for the export of pork from Northern Ireland to Australia.

Deputy chief veterinary officer, Dr Perpetua McNamee, gave the all clear and said the new certificate announcement was a significant boost to the local agri-food industry.

“DAERA continues to invest much time and energy into opening new markets to expand the agri-food industry in Northern Ireland. This approval to export pork represents a tangible outcome in DAERA’s long-term global engagement strategy and also represents achievement in securing access to one of the new markets outlined in the Going for Growth initiative.”

In response to market access interest from the province for the export of pig meat to Australia, DAWR undertook an assessment to examine the nature of official controls and supervision provided by the Food Standards Agency and DAERA veterinary services here, and to assess if these were sufficient to meet Australia’s exacting biosecurity requirements.

Deirdre McIvor, Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Pork and Bacon Forum, welcomed the deal as another positive step for the pork industry.

“I’m delighted that we have secured approval to ship to the Australian market, just weeks after the news was announced that trade commenced between Northern Ireland and China,” she said.

This further underpins the NI pork industry’s export development.

“Our industry looks forward to developing this new relationship, which has the potential to not only secure jobs, but also to enhance opportunities across the sector.”