An invitation to Irish live cattle exporters to tender for 10,000 tonnes of beef for Libya was being seen in the trade yesterday as a first move by Libya towards the reopening of the live trade. The offer was made because Libyans have traditionally dealt with live cattle shippers rather than beef processors.
There was an enthusiastic response from Compassion in World Farming in Ireland to the report in the Irish Farmers' Journal that Libya wants beef instead of live cattle.
The CIWF said the move was "very good news indeed". This was because it saved the animals from the stress of a very long sea journey, followed by delivery into a country where EU animal welfare legislation did not apply.
The report, which was confirmed by An Bord Bia, said that Libya was asking that the first of the beef must be delivered by the first week in August.
It added that the move from live cattle to beef represented a major switch in Libyan buying policy. While other EU countries have been invited to tender, Irish exporters are confident that the contract will come to Ireland.
If it is filled by the Irish live exporters, the contract has the potential to take upwards of 30,000 cattle off the Irish market over the next year.
Live cattle exporters contacted yesterday said they would be seeking to fill the tender as it could lead to a reopening of the live trade, which was ended in 1996 because of the BSE crisis in Britain.
Libya had been taking substantial numbers of live cattle in the previous three years and at one stage the trade was worth nearly £80 million a year.
The switch to buying chilled beef instead of live cattle is causing some puzzlement because Libya has limited facilities for handling and storing beef.