UK pork is set to be served on Mexican tables following a successful bid to secure long-term access to the market.
Twelve businesses have secured approval to export products to Mexico’s rapidly expanding market, with the UK securing new access specifically for Northern Irish exporters through dedicated negotiations with Mexico.
The businesses will also now be able to export offal and edible by-products, bringing pig farmers a return on parts that are less popular in the UK but which Mexican consumers relish as part of classical buche meat dishes. Sustaining and growing the export market is essential for optimising the full value of pig carcasses, which in turn helps strengthen prices for UK farmers at the farm gate.
With consumption in Mexico’s pork market growing by 5.4% annually between 2019 and 2024, industry estimates expect the deal to bring in £19m over the first five years.
Jonathan Eckley, Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) international trade development director, said: “Access and broadening the scope of our pig meat exports to the significant Mexican market is very welcome news and a testament to our levy payers’ work in providing world class products, produced to the highest standards.”
This successful outcome follows eight years of negotiations between Mexican and UK authorities led by Defra, including Food Standards Agency, DAERA and industry partnerships with support from the Department for Business and Trade and the FCDO.
The deal will also pave the way for future opportunities for exporters, with 20% tariffs on pork set to disappear once Mexico ratifies the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).