China opens doors to Northern Irish pork

Karro Foods and Dunbia will benefit from a decision by China to approve provisionally exports of pork from Northern Ireland. The decision could be worth ?10 million in business for Northern Ireland. Final approval is expected once the two companies intending to export complete additional work at their factories. Both companies are based in county Tyrone - Karro Foods, part of theUK Karro Foods Group, in Cookstown and Dunbia, Northern Ireland's biggest meat processing company, in Dungannon Permission to ship pork directly to China will see about 12,000 tonnes a year being sent. The Chinese government's provisional approval, granted after a long inspection process, means the two plants can soon sell heads, trotters, stomachs, hearts and bones, parts not generally used in the UK and Ireland. Chinese officials visited abattoirs in Northern Ireland as part of the inspection process while Northern Ireland agriculture minister Michele O'Neill visited China several times as part of the approval process. About 12,000 tonnes of pork will be sent to China each year. Karro Food Group has invested heavily as part of the three-year inspection and authorisation process, spending about ?400,000. New changing rooms have been constructed and kitted-out for each section of the slaughter line, and a separate packing area built for products destined for China. Seamus Carr, chief executive of Karro Food Group, said approval for direct access to China would have a "significant impact" on the business, giving it a potential increase in turnover of about 10 per cent. He said he hoped to pass some of the extra profit back to farmers. "There will be a premium and what I say to farmers is that we will share that with them," he added.