Business | Economy
Welsh farmers eye UAE lamb market
Welsh farmers hope to capture 10 per cent of the UAE lamb market after a ban on imports of British lamb was lifted.
- By Daniel Bardsley, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 October 30, 2006
- Carwyn Jones, Minister of Environment, Planning and Countryside in the Welsh Assembly, said the target was "ambitious" but achievable.
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Dubai: Welsh farmers hope to capture 10 per cent of the UAE lamb market after a ban on imports of British lamb was lifted.
Carwyn Jones, Minister of Environment, Planning and Countryside in the Welsh Assembly, said the target was "ambitious" but achievable.
The first imports of Welsh lamb were made this week for a celebratory dinner, 18 months after officials from the National Assembly for Wales began negotiations to have the ban lifted.
Jones, a member of the Labour Party, said Welsh farmers wanted to service the top end of the UAE market, targeting the likes of high-class hotels and prestige retailers.
"The UAE is important because it's a market for premium lamb. We are not bulk producers - we're not looking to compete with the Australians and New Zealanders. "We want to service the market at this time of year - around Eid, when there's an opportunity to fulfil extra demand," Jones told Gulf News during a three-day visit to Dubai.
Jones said it would take three to four years to achieve a 10 per cent market share, adding that he hoped Wales could achieve sales of "tens of millions of pounds" in the UAE, which imports 75 per cent of its meat.
The ban on the importation of lamb from the United Kingdom into the UAE has been in force since 2001, when it was imposed amid concerns over foot-and-mouth disease.
Negotiations
Moves to get the ban lifted began in February last year and involved two visits to the UAE by Welsh representatives, and a visit to Wales by UAE officials where they saw farms and abattoirs. The lifting of the ban applies to all UK lamb and not just that from Wales. Jones said he hoped other GCC countries could follow the UAE's lead and lift their own bans on imports, although he said no other negotiations were taking place yet.
Currently Welsh lamb exports are worth £300 million and the industry is Wales's largest agricultural exporter, supporting thousands of jobs. There are a total of 20,000 livestock farmers in the whole of Wales.
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