The Northern Ireland (NI) beef industry wants an Irish grass-fed beef PGI to include all cattle from the island of Ireland, not just cattle from south of the Irish border.

The Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) is understood to have made contact with both Bord Bia and the Department of Agriculture on the issue.

This is ahead of the national consultation which is confined to the Republic of Ireland and closes this Friday.

The LMC points out that many processing businesses, who have for several years marketed their beef as grass-fed Irish, operate across Ireland.

It also highlights that they own the community trademark for the Greenfields brand. Irish grass-fed beef is sold under this brand in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg from supply chains that include beef from both sides of the Irish border.

Constructive engagement

“We look forward to further constructive engagement with industry and officials on both sides of the border as the very sound case to register a PGI for Irish grass-fed beef is developed,” said LMC chief executive Ian Stevenson.

Back in the late 2000s, the LMC tried to get a PGI status for NI beef and lamb, but it is understood that Irish authorities opposed some of the terminology suggested, so the application had to be dropped. It would be a bad outcome for everyone if we end up in a similar place this time around.