Industry leaders have welcomed news that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has lifted its ban on English meat.

In
a bid to promote quality English halal lamb to Middle Eastern
countries, EBLEX visited the Dubai Gulfood Exhibition last month, a
trip which generated significant interest from a number of potential
buyers.

EBLEX export manager Jean Pierre Garnier
said: “The Middle East represents a major untapped export market for
quality halal lamb. There are many business opportunities in this
region, with over 35m wealthy lamb consumers. This would be incredibly
beneficial to our export market.”

Janan Meats MD
Naved Syed, who accompanied EBLEX on the trip to Dubai, said: “I have
been really keen to get an open dialogue going with the Middle Eastern
countries for some time and, now they have announced that they will
lift their ban on imports of meat from England, we have the green light
to a potentially billion-pound market for halal meat.”

A
ban on exports to the UAE was imposed as a result of the foot-and-mouth
outbreak in 2000. Previous attempts were made to get the ban lifted,
but the vets from the Emirates were not willing to come to inspect
English facilities.

Syed added: “The market for
Halal meat in England is growing and the potential for sales from
Muslim consumers in the EU and Middle East is massive.

“Attending
the Gulfood show has already begun to open doors, not just for my
business, but for all like-minded halal abattoirs and processors in
England.”