Irish meat gains access to Qatar

IRELAND has gained access to the Qatar meat market which is expected to reach a value of one million tonnes by 2020.

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed welcomed the agreement which has been reached with Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health and will allow for the importation into Qatar of Irish beef, sheepmeat and poultry.

“The opening of this new market is a reflection of the confidence the Qatari authorities have in the rigorous controls and high standards of food safety we have in Ireland,” said Minister Creed.

He said that he wanted to ensure that Irish meat exporters would have access to as many global markets as possible in line with the market development themes of Food Wise 2025 and that his department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Bord Bia would continue to work closely in achieving this goal.

Irish agri-food exports to Qatar amounted €8.8m in 2017 of which around 70pc is accounted for by dairy exports. According to some market research estimates, the Qatari meat market is expected to become a million tonne market by 2020. Due to lower domestic production levels, meat imports are increasingly significant.

Sheepmeat is particularly popular, at around 35pc of total meat consumption.