Craig Williams MP has hailed Saturday 8th 2022 as a “milestone day for Montgomeryshire lamb”, as the USA’s decades old ban on British lamb imports is finally lifted.
The first exports of British sheep meat were sent to the USA today, representing the first time since the year 2000 that Welsh lamb can enter the American market. The move follows the US removing a similar ban on British beef imports two years ago.
Welcoming the news, Craig Williams MP said:
“Saturday 8th October 2022 is indeed a milestone day for our sheep sector. With Montgomeryshire possessing Western’s Europe’s largest prime lamb market within Welshpool; as well as one of the largest lamb processing abattoirs with Randall Parker Foods in Llanidloes, the lifting of the US ban on UK lamb imports is fantastic news for our local export market and economy.
“The US is one of the world’s biggest importers of lamb and mutton– second only to China, and so the reintroduction of this market will provide a huge multi-million-pound boost to sheep farmers across the UK and Montgomeryshire. The UK has always produced world class lamb to the very highest animal welfare standards, and I have no doubt that Welsh lamb will be hugely popular within restaurants and markets across the United States
“I have also written to the US Ambassador for the UK, inviting her to visit Welshpool Livestock Market to meet with the producers of the best lamb in the world, and to discuss this immense opportunity for both nations in growing our agricultural and commercial ties.”
