Wales celebrates first export of beef to EU since foot-and-mouth

The first beef to be exported from the United Kingdom since foot-and-mouth was detected was ceremonially waved off from a modest South Wales abattoir yesterday.

Michael German, the Welsh Rural Development Minister, saw off the consignment of beef from St Merryn Foods, in Merthyr Tydfil, to the Netherlands. All fresh meat exports from the UK were banned at the start of the foot-and-mouth outbreak in February 2001 but after detailed and often torpid negotiations in Brussels, the ban has been lifted in stages since the end of last year.

The Welsh consignment is the first beef to leave Britain under the newly relaxed Date-Based Export Scheme (DBES), the rules of which had originally stipulated that beef for export must be produced in dedicated slaughterhouses. This was such an onerous stipulation that it discouraged any company from seeking approval to export under it.

But in July, the Government asked the European Commission to revise the rules to allow cutting plants and other establishments handling DBES beef to handle both export and non-export meat. The Commission formally agreed to the change last month, prompting legislation in Wales, which came into force on 10 September. Legislation in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland is to follow shortly.

The beef, which is going to a major Dutch catering trade supplier, was labelled "Welsh" in an attempt to beat the stigma attached to British beef.

Mr German stamped the beef ready for shipping last Tuesday and said it signified better times ahead for the agriculture industry. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said yesterday that membership of the EU had helped in the resumption of beef exports by providing a framework to help persuade other member states and countries outside the EU to lift their bans.

Lord Whitty, the Farming minister, said: "Our high- quality beef is in demand, and British beef is amongst the safest in the world. We have worked closely with St Merryn to ensure that British beef can be back on menus outside the UK, and it is a boost to the industry to see its produce heading abroad again."

Paul Murphy, the Secretary of State for Wales, described the deal as great news for the Welsh farming industry and for Britain. "Not only is this the first export order of British beef since the foot-and-mouth outbreak," he said, "but it is also the first time that exported beef will bear the Welsh Beef logo."