British farmers and food producers are set to benefit from a valuable new market as Taiwan prepares to welcome British pork exports for the first time.
UK pork exports were worth £290 million to our economy last year, reaching over 80 export markets. This new agreement is expected to be worth more than £50m over the next five years.
The deal also means UK exporters can further tap in to the overseas demand for parts of the pig carcass that are not commonly purchased in the UK, such as offal. This means UK farmers and pork processors will be able to generate income for the whole carcass.
The eagerly awaited deal has been secured by the UK government, working with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and UK Export Certification Partnership (UKECP).
Exporters can take advantage of the market as soon as the administrative listing process is completed and export certification is made available.
It follows a number of recent successes for UK food and drink exports, which reached a record level of £22 billion in 2017. Last month, China lifted its two-decade long ban on UK beef exportsfollowing the BSE outbreak. The agreement will allow official market access negotiations to begin, estimated to be worth over £250m in the first five years alone.
Food Minister George Eustice said: “Access to this new market in Taiwan is great news for our farmers and producers and gives a welcome boost to the pork production industry – already worth £1.3bn to the UK economy.
“This is a significant development for pork exporters and reinforces our reputation for producing high quality food and drink, guaranteeing quality from farm to fork.”
AHDB international market development director Dr Phil Hadley added: “We estimate the value to the UK to be in excess of £50m based on current UK export capacity but if this were to rise to match the strong demand for pork imports in Taiwan, where last year alone imports rose by 26% to US$178.3m, the opportunity could be worth more than £100m over the next five years.”
