Simon Coveney “A huge prize”

The news has been a long time coming – nearly sixteen years. Since the Mad Cow outbreak in the late 1990s, the US had banned the import of European beef. Now, Ireland has become the first country in Europe to meet the strictures ensuring that the meat is safe for American consumers.

The US government lifted the ban last March, but Ireland has beaten its neighbors in preparing to sell to the lucrative market across the Atlantic. The news has been greeted with elation by the Irish government and its food board, Bord Bia.

In an announcement last month on Irish national radio, the Republic’s agriculture minister, Simon Coveney, stated: “This US market is a huge prize, given its size, and the demand we know exists there for premium grass-fed beef. We now have first-mover advantage as a result of being the first EU member state to gain entry. There is also the large Irish-American community, which will be a key target of our promotional efforts.”

While no one expects Irish beef to claim a huge share of the American market, food-industry insiders prognosticate that the product can capture a hugely profitable niche here. According to Douglas Dalbyjan in The New York Times, “Ireland might be likely to find a market among buyers seeking beef raised in pastures and free from artificial growth hormones.”

The US government’s concerns about European beef surfaced in 1998 because of alarm that the unquestionably horrifying “Mad Cow Disease,” or BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) could infect American consumers. Ireland is the first European beef producer since that time to pass the required American standards.

A Reuters account referred to a USDA inspection that recognized Ireland as “the first European country deemed to have consistently and effectively implemented a beef slaughter inspection system that satisfies all criteria for equivalence with the United States system.” Until other European nations pass the same standards as Ireland – Scotland is likely the next candidate – the Republic has the advantage among the EU members.

The Irish entry into the American market has certainly garnered the attention of other EU members. In a recent statement by EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis, Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, and Rural Development Commissioner Phil Hogan, the trio asserted, “It is now desirable that the US acts expeditiously to extend the approval to the rest of the European Union and to fully bring their import conditions in line with international standards. We also welcome that this move, which forms part of a growing trend, recognizes the robust, comprehensive and successful measures put in place by the EU to eradicate [mad cow disease].”

The commentary by EU representatives notwithstanding, only Irish beef has cleared the hurdle and Ireland is wasting no time in trumpeting that status. Said a Bord Bia representative: “We are finalizing arrangements at the present time. Initially our aim will be to target Irish beef at high end restaurants and other elite food service outlets. Two launch events will be hosted by Bord Bia in New York and Washington.”

As part of the launch, officials from the Irish Agriculture Department will meet with their American counterparts at a series of discussions and events. In his national radio statements and to other media outlets, Agriculture Minister Coveney said that “the demand for premium grass-fed, hormone-free beef in the United States is growing an estimated 20 percent a year.” The BIR has learned that Coveney is due to visit Boston in mid-February.

In 2014, some $4.8 billion of foreign beef reached the United States market, but none from Europe. Coveney contends that in the US, Irish beef could reap 100 million euros in 2015, while adding, “This is the culmination of two years of intensive work to prove our credentials as a supplier of highest quality premium beef.”