Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how long he expects it to take for British beef exports to reach their 1996 levels.
Answer
The Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC) estimate that in 2006 UK exports could be about 40,000 tonnes divided equally between prime beef and cow beef. There is also strong interest in exporting pedigree breeding stock and other cattle (including calves).However, it will of course take time to regain lost markets and to approach previous record export levels, which amounted to nearly £600 million for beef exports and £78 million for cattle in 1995.