With British Beef allowed back into the French meat market, the lorries will be jostling for space on the ferries. Won't they? Well, perhaps not, if the reaction of Richard Cracknell, MD of Anglo Beef Processors, is anything to go by. "We're underwhelmed by it all. Lifting the ban really doesn't mean a great deal to us," he says.
And this is from a company that in 1996, before the BSE crisis, won the Queen's Award for Export.
And it is not alone in being unimpressed by the French turnaround. Director of the British Meat Federation Peter Scott says: "There is not going to be a huge rush to export to France. We're still restricted by the date-based export scheme which makes exporting difficult and expensive."
France's decision clears the way for British producers to export prime beef to the French market. However product such as bone-in beef and meat from animals over 30 months old, like cow beef, are still restricted right across Europe. And Cracknell points out that before 1996 the market in France was mainly cow beef and bone-in beef.
Nevertheless, it was a significant business. France accounted for 80,000 tonnes out of With British beef allowed back into the French meat market, the lorries will be jostling for space on the ferries. Won't they? Well, perhaps, not, if the reaction of Richard Cracknell, managing director of Anglo Beef Processors is anything to go by. "We're underwhelmed by it all. Liftung the ban really doesn't mean a great deal to us" he says.
And this is from the company that in 1996, before th BSE crisis, won the Queen's Award for Export.
And it is not alone in being unimpressed by the French turnaround. Director of the British Meast Federation Peter Scott says: "There is not going to be a huge rush to export to France. We're still restricted by the date-based export scheme which makes exporting difficult and expensive."
France's decision clears the way for British producers to export prime beef to the French market. However products such as bone-in-beef and meat from animals over 30 months old, like cow beef, are still restricted right across Europe. And Cracknell points out that before 1996 the market in France was mainly cow beef and bone-in-beef.
Nevertheless, it was a significant busness. France accounted for 80,000 tonnes out of the 274,000 tonnes of beef exported from the UK. So last week's announcement is certainly a morale booster for the British industry, and will help improve the image of the UK's beef worldwide. But as one processor says: "There's an awful lot of spin going on."
And BMF's Scott says this could cause problems: "The government is shouting about what good news it is and how everyone's rushing off to Dover, and that is sending a misleading message to farmers." The fact remains, he says, that restrictions imposed on British beef make it expensive to export and therefore uncompetitive. In addition, the British meat industry is contracting and the country is only 60% self-sufficient so there is little available to export. "The more we export the more we have to suck in to meet domestic demand," Scott says.
However, the Meat and Livestock Commission is taking a more positive view. International manager Peter Hardwick says that before 1996 there had been a shift in demand from France towards prime beef and away from the traditional cow and bone-in beef.
However he knows time is needed to recover the lost markets. "Obviously we would like to get back to where it was, but we must take it a stage at a time."
One thing that would open up the market would be removing restrictions on 30-month-old cattle, which the the National Farmers' Union is pushing hard for.
President Ben Gill says the ruling is badly in need of updating and can see no reason why animals over 30 months old should be excluded from the food chain, as long as proper tests have been carried out.
Suspicious of France's new moves
However the industry is wary of France's latest proposals in which its prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said there would be new legislation on labelling beef for the foodservice sector and that it would demand the EU harmonise BSE testing for cattle at 24 months of age. Hardwick says the MLC is opposed to lowering the BSE testing age and doesn't think the proposals will succeed. It is holding fire on foodservice labelling until it sees the plans in detail.
At the moment,then, it appears that the ban's removal means very little to very few, but it could lead to opportunities, as ABP's Cracknell acknowledges. "It is a foot in the door and we've got to start somewhere." However, he says UK processors want a level playing field with the rest of Europe. "We believe as an industry, that our instances of BSE are declining while others are rising, and we want full access to the market."
{{ANALYSIS }}
And this is from a company that in 1996, before the BSE crisis, won the Queen's Award for Export.
And it is not alone in being unimpressed by the French turnaround. Director of the British Meat Federation Peter Scott says: "There is not going to be a huge rush to export to France. We're still restricted by the date-based export scheme which makes exporting difficult and expensive."
France's decision clears the way for British producers to export prime beef to the French market. However product such as bone-in beef and meat from animals over 30 months old, like cow beef, are still restricted right across Europe. And Cracknell points out that before 1996 the market in France was mainly cow beef and bone-in beef.
Nevertheless, it was a significant business. France accounted for 80,000 tonnes out of With British beef allowed back into the French meat market, the lorries will be jostling for space on the ferries. Won't they? Well, perhaps, not, if the reaction of Richard Cracknell, managing director of Anglo Beef Processors is anything to go by. "We're underwhelmed by it all. Liftung the ban really doesn't mean a great deal to us" he says.
And this is from the company that in 1996, before th BSE crisis, won the Queen's Award for Export.
And it is not alone in being unimpressed by the French turnaround. Director of the British Meast Federation Peter Scott says: "There is not going to be a huge rush to export to France. We're still restricted by the date-based export scheme which makes exporting difficult and expensive."
France's decision clears the way for British producers to export prime beef to the French market. However products such as bone-in-beef and meat from animals over 30 months old, like cow beef, are still restricted right across Europe. And Cracknell points out that before 1996 the market in France was mainly cow beef and bone-in-beef.
Nevertheless, it was a significant busness. France accounted for 80,000 tonnes out of the 274,000 tonnes of beef exported from the UK. So last week's announcement is certainly a morale booster for the British industry, and will help improve the image of the UK's beef worldwide. But as one processor says: "There's an awful lot of spin going on."
And BMF's Scott says this could cause problems: "The government is shouting about what good news it is and how everyone's rushing off to Dover, and that is sending a misleading message to farmers." The fact remains, he says, that restrictions imposed on British beef make it expensive to export and therefore uncompetitive. In addition, the British meat industry is contracting and the country is only 60% self-sufficient so there is little available to export. "The more we export the more we have to suck in to meet domestic demand," Scott says.
However, the Meat and Livestock Commission is taking a more positive view. International manager Peter Hardwick says that before 1996 there had been a shift in demand from France towards prime beef and away from the traditional cow and bone-in beef.
However he knows time is needed to recover the lost markets. "Obviously we would like to get back to where it was, but we must take it a stage at a time."
One thing that would open up the market would be removing restrictions on 30-month-old cattle, which the the National Farmers' Union is pushing hard for.
President Ben Gill says the ruling is badly in need of updating and can see no reason why animals over 30 months old should be excluded from the food chain, as long as proper tests have been carried out.
Suspicious of France's new moves
However the industry is wary of France's latest proposals in which its prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said there would be new legislation on labelling beef for the foodservice sector and that it would demand the EU harmonise BSE testing for cattle at 24 months of age. Hardwick says the MLC is opposed to lowering the BSE testing age and doesn't think the proposals will succeed. It is holding fire on foodservice labelling until it sees the plans in detail.
At the moment,then, it appears that the ban's removal means very little to very few, but it could lead to opportunities, as ABP's Cracknell acknowledges. "It is a foot in the door and we've got to start somewhere." However, he says UK processors want a level playing field with the rest of Europe. "We believe as an industry, that our instances of BSE are declining while others are rising, and we want full access to the market."
{{ANALYSIS }}
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