Sir; I note the Irish Food Board's description of National Beef Association claims that around 15 per cent of beef imports from the Republic last year was almost certainly taken from cattle over 30 months old as "nonsense" (The Grocer, January 20, page 25). It is interesting ­ in the absence of a national system that requires clear delineation between prime cattle that are 29 months and 29 days old and those which are 30 months old or more ­ that the Board, and the companies supplying the UK market, can be so certain that not one gram of the 110,000 tonnes of Irish beef entering the UK last year was taken from OTM animals. It is equally interesting that, since the introduction of a firm 30-month cut off in Ireland through the Purchase for Destruction Scheme on January 1, Irish farmers are claiming that only 20% of the cattle they finish have been sold for slaughter at less than 30 months old (compared with 65 per cent claimed by the Irish Food Board over 2000), and that supplies of under 30-month cattle needed to service the UK market are suddenly being described as extremely tight. It may be that the Board's published slaughter figures for prime cattle over 2001, which must now be split between those under 30 months and those over 30 months whose carcasses have been tested, will reveal the truth of its statement. However the NBA is not so sure, and anticipates that the reality of its assertion ­ which is not just that the Irish Food Board's figure is wrong but is seriously wrong ­ will very soon be confirmed. Robert Forster Chief executive National Beef Association Malvern, Worcestershire {{LETTERS }}

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