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Irish sheepmeat cannot gain access to the Japanese market without electronic tagging, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed told press at a media briefing in South Korea.
Minister Creed and Bord Bia are currently conducting a trade mission in Japan and South Korea in an effort to expand Ireland’s trading links in the region.
Earlier this week, the minister expressed a hope to gain entry for Irish sheepmeat in Japan.
However, during a press briefing in South Korea this morning, the minister confirmed that Japan would not currently accept Irish sheepmeat.
“I don’t think we’ll be getting sheepmeat in [Japan] under our current traceability regime,” Creed said.
The minister went on to say that the Japanese would prefer to import from countries had electronic tagging in place for sheep.
The Japanese only consume 1kg/capita of sheepmeat, with pork and chicken the most popular types of meat in the country.
However, the minister had hoped to open the trade route in an effort to expand the market interest in Ireland.
South Korea
The minister is now firmly fixed on progressing the issue of Irish meat access to South Korea.
Creed told the assembled press that gaining access was a six-stage process and Ireland was currently at stage four.
Earlier this year, South Korean officials visited and inspected Liffey Meats as part of the approval process, and were reportedly happy with the standard of Irish abattoirs and processing plants.
South Korea has a population of over 51m people and is only 34% self-sufficient in beef. It imports 550,000t of beef each year.
In pictures: Tokyo Central Meat Market
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