The launch event last Friday to mark the designation of Protected Geographical Indicator (PGI) status for Irish Grass Fed Beef, received significant media attention and ultimately created the impression it could be a game-changer for the industry in Ireland.

The reality is probably somewhat different, although it is always important to maximise whatever marketing advantage you might have.

The process to obtain the designation from the EU has been on-going for well over three years and initially started when authorities in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) stated their intention to press ahead with an application.

At the time, counterparts in NI were generally caught unaware and soon made it clear they could formally object if the application proceeded without them. The key issue was a concern that a NI processor would be excluded from making claims about their beef being Irish if a PGI was designated in ROI only.

Thankfully common sense prevailed and the Irish grass-fed mark can be applied to cattle from across the island.

Process

However, for a processor in NI who wants to use the PGI mark on beef from cattle born and raised in NI, there is still a process to be worked through.

In particular, cattle must derive at least 90% of their feed intake from grass and grass silage and spend a minimum of 220 days out grazing each year (there is a tolerance of up to 40 days).

To verify these claims it will be necessary for the Livestock and Meat Commission to put a verification system in place, to be bolted on to farm assurance inspections. But given the work being done ahead of the widespread rollout of carbon benchmarking on farms, this verification system is probably not a top priority at present.

Much will also depend on whether processors can identify non-UK customers who want to buy Irish Grass Fed Beef from NI and are willing to pay more for it than our main customers in Britain. That might not be an easy task.