Chief accused over Irish beef imports

CONTROVERSY: Comments made by the NFUS boss about Irish beef being imported by Asda have been criticised.

Aleading figure in the Scottish beef industry has accused the president of farming union NFU Scotland (NFUS) of “opening his arms” to imports of beef from across the Irish Sea.

Jim Walker – a former NFU Scotland president who co-chaired the Scottish Government’s suckler beef climate group – has also accused red meat levy body Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) of not doing enough to ensure Scotch-assured beef producers receive a premium for their produce.

He made the comments in response to an article in The Scottish Farmer about Asda sourcing Irish beef due to rising British beef prices.

In the article, current NFUS president Martin Kennedy expresses disappointment that Asda is buying Irish beef, but said if foreign beef was needed to make up supplies it was better for it to come from Ireland rather than elsewhere.

He is quoted as saying: “The whole of the UK is shy of 360,000 tonnes of beef, so if we are going to have to import it, then it needs to be brought in from Ireland rather than other parts of the world.

“At least we know our closest neighbours are comparable to standards here.”

Mr Walker described Mr Kennedy’s words as “shameful” and said the president was “effectively opening his arms and welcoming products with little provenance from or travelling through Ireland”.

He also attacked QMS and said: “The muchlauded Scotch premium has gone as QMS sit idly by and do absolutely nothing.”

Responding to Mr Walker’s criticism, NFUS president Martin Kennedy said the union had publicly called Asda and Tesco to account over their “disappointing and declining support Scottish red meat”.

He added: “I am already on record criticising the Asda decision to step away from its 100% commitment to British beef and we have been in further dialogue with Asda today.”

He said the UK does not produce enough beef itself to meet demand and added: “At the moment, the gap is being filled by the Irish.

“However, the reality is that the damaging UK trade deals with Australia for and New Zealand have left Scottish farmers and crofters increasingly exposed and that threats to home production are no longer exclusively across the Irish Sea.

“No organisation has been more critical of these ill-considered trade deals than NFU Scotland.”

Meanwhile, QMS director of economics services Stuart Ashworth said: “QMS will continue to work to drive demand for Scotch red meat and differentiate it in the marketplace.”