The United States will permit imports of beef from Ireland, the first European Union country allowed to resume exports to the USA since the mad cow disease scare over 15 years ago, officials said on Monday.
Simon Coveney, Ireland’s minister for agriculture, food and the marine, issued a statement announcing that access to the lucrative U.S. market will be restored after American authorities inspected Ireland’s beef production systems last year. Authorities estimated that annual exports could be worth at least 25 million euros ($30 million).
The U.S. lifted its ban on beef from the EU in March 2014, but inspections are necessary before exports are allowed to resume.