New Zealand is set to follow Australia's lead and permanently ban beef and beef products from 15 European countries, including Ireland.
The move is to head off the threat of the human form of mad cow disease, variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vCJD).
However a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture told ireland.comthe ban would have no effect on the Irish beef trade as only a "neglible amount, if any" of beef products would have been exported to New Zealand.
A spokeswoman for the Irish Farmers Association said the move was unwarranted and unjustified given the strict controls on BSE in Ireland.
But she also said that Ireland's beef trade with New Zealand was not significant.
New Zealand suspended imports of European beef and beef products in 1996 because of the possible link between BSE infected cows and the development of vCJD in humans.
Ministry of health chief medical adviser Dr Colin Feek said New Zealand imports only "very small amounts of beef products from Europe", including pâtés and gravy mixes.
The country suspended all imports of European cattle in January this year after BSE was found in cattle outside Britain.
The Australia-New Zealand Food Authority said this week beef products from 15 countries - including Britain, Germany, France and Italy - would be banned. New Zealand is not formally bound by that decision.
The 15 countries were among 30 from which beef and beef products were temporarily banned by Australia in January, because of the possible importation of BSE-infected products.
The health ministry said a decision on whether the temporary suspensions introduced in January should be made permanent, as is now the case in Australia, could be taken when the cabinet considers the issue on July 30th.
Additional reporting PA