Celebration marks return of British beef exports

The NFU will join with the Meat and Livestock Commission to celebrate the return of British beef to EU markets on Thursday.

The Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC) and the UK Farmers Unions will jointly host a reception in Brussels to mark the return of British beef, which will be attended by senior officials and politicians from the EU Commission and EU member states.

NFU Livestock Board Chairman Thomas Binns said: “The resumption of full-scale beef exports is the best thing to have happened to the British beef industry for 10 years.

“It gives us an alternative to a domestic market dominated by the major supermarkets and means that we can break their stranglehold.

“However, it is one thing to be able to export beef again; quite another to re-build our sales to the levels that were achieved in the 1990s. That will be a key task for the whole industry, but we are confident in the quality of our product, and Thursday’s celebration in Brussels marks an important milestone along that road.”