With the recent announcement that China was lifting its ban on Irish beef imports, the Chinese delegation that travelled to Ireland for Marketplace 2015 was of particular interest to the Irish beef and sheep industry.

The delegation spent the first three days this week visiting Irish processing plants and farms before taking part in the set-piece Marketplace event in The Convention Centre Dublin on Thursday.

The Irish Farmers Journal spoke to Wei Chen, executive vice president (VP) and secretary general of the China Meat Association (CMA) and group leader, after the group visited the Irish Country Meats lamb factory and Dawn Meats beef factory at the end of day one.

The CMA is a non-profit organisation established to promote meat production and distribution. It fulfils many of the functions we would associate with an industry trade association, assisting in the development and promotion of businesses through provision of services and developing international business contacts.

Wei Chen isn’t new to Ireland – he was here in 2001/2 visiting the Irish pig industry. At that time, he inspected Irish pig-breeding farms as well as factories and he expressed satisfaction with the standards and quality systems in place.

With China taking the political decision to end its import ban on Ireland because of BSE, it is unsurprising that confidence in the safety of Irish beef is a priority. He stressed that he was leading a commercial delegation. As executive VP of the CMA, he emphasised through the group’s interpreter that this delegation was commercially focused, implying that the certification detail would be worked out by others, namely the veterinary authorities.

He went on to explain that there were a number of features in the Irish industry that he and the delegation were looking for.

The production environment for beef and lamb, particularly seeing how the Irish family farm worked in practice.

The processing and innovation capability of Irish factories; he was clearly impressed with his visits.

A clear commitment to quality and assurance systems that would give him the confidence to report positively on the Irish industry.

It was evident that his expectations had been fully met, if not exceeded, and further reports of his subsequent visits to farms and factories reinforced this point. Despite all the positive vibes from Wei Chen, it was made very clear to the Irish Farmers Journal that this was only one of a series of visits that would be undertaken before business began and that was before considering the veterinary hurdles that have to be cleared.

It is an accepted principle of doing business with China that a lot of time has to be spent building relationships before any trade is contemplated and this was emphasised. No matter how well a visit goes – and it is a given that we have to showcase the best of our industry on these occasions – trade will take time.

Against this background, it is difficult to see business take place this year no matter how well the veterinary certification process progresses. Our slight hope for even the most moderate fast-tracking of trade lies in what happens elsewhere in the world. China has identified a clear need for supplies.

If drought-driven scarcity in the US and Australia, currently huge suppliers to China, creates supply difficulties, then the call to Ireland may come a little sooner.

For Irish farmers and factories, it cannot come soon enough, particularly with the European market being so weak for forequarter manufacturing beef. It would be wrong, however, for Irish farmers to expect that China will be a customer for the beef from store cattle sold this spring.