12 businesses across England and Northern Ireland have secured approval to export pork to Mexico.
The £19 million trade deal follows eight years of negotiations to secure long-term access to this lucrative market.
Consumption in Mexico’s pork market has grown by 5.4% annually between 2019 and 2024.
The 12 selected sites include:
- Cranswick Country Foods PLC – Hull, Watton and Ballymena;
- Pilgrim’s Pride Ltd – Spalding and Westerleigh, Bristol;
- Thermotraffic Ltd – Wrexham;
- Magnavale Chesterfield Ltd – Chesterfield;
- ABP Cold Store – Hull;
- Americold Spalding Ltd – Spalding;
- Turners (Soham) Ltd – Suffolk;
- Karro Food Group – Cookstown;
- Interfrigo Ltd – Antrim.
UK Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, Daniel Zeichner said: “British pork is renowned for its exceptional quality and high welfare standards, so it’s no surprise to see global demand continuing to grow.
“This is a tremendous win for our pork producers and builds on our recent success in resuming exports to China.”
The deal will allow the businesses to export offal and edible by-products, bringing pig farmers a return on parts that popular among Mexican consumers as part of classical buche meat dishes.
Jonathan Eckley, Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) international trade development director, welcomed the deal.
“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,” he said.
Mexico
The deal allows for new access specifically for Northern Ireland exporters after dedicated negotiations with Mexico.
Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Andrew Muir said:
“This is testament to the exceptional standards we have in place here in Northern Ireland to produce high quality meat at an international level and demonstrates our commitment to supporting our important agri-food industry.
“Working together with industry, government and key stakeholders was essential to reach this agreement.”
In Northern Ireland, two slaughterhouses (Karro in Cookstown, Cranswick Country Foods in Ballymena) and one cold store (Interfrigo in Antrim) have received approval to export produce to Mexico.
Pork
The deal will also pave the way for future opportunities for British 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).
The news follows the launch of the UK government’s trade strategy.
The UK negotiation team was led Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Food Standards Agency, DAERA and industry partnerships.
Support was also provided from the Department for Business and Trade and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. FCDO.
The agreement is in place until June 2027.
