UK bags major sheep-meat export order worth 6 mn pound from India

The UK's lamb industry has bagged a lucrative export order to deliver sheep-meat to India, a promising new market for its product.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s (AHDB) exports division said a range of different cuts of sheep-meat will be covered by the agreement, which is likely to be worth about 6 million pounds over the next five years.

According to ‘Farmers Weekly’, the new agreement follows a series of inspections and negotiations led by the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) alongside AHDB, the Food Standards Agency (FSA), the UK Export Certification Partnership (UKECP), the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), the Animal and Plant Health Agency and other organisations.

"Despite India currently only representing a small market for our sheep-meat exports, it has the potential for future growth due to its growing population and income," said AHDB international market development director Dr Phil Hadley.

"Access to this new market is the result of ongoing work by government, AHDB and key industry stakeholders and provides us with another non-European market for our sheep-meat exports," he said.

AHDB described the announcement related to its India export order this week as a testament to the UK’s high-quality products and world-class standards. The UK currently exports 386 million pounds of sheep-meat overseas annually – but just 3.8 per cent of this product goes outside of the European Union.

This deal is seen as a significant win for the sheep industry, which could be one of the worst affected in a post-Brexit scenario where the UK does not enjoy the same access to the EU single market that it currently enjoys.

(With inputs from agencies.)