A NEW market is opening up for high value British pork following the agreement of health certificates with Australia.

The technical side of the agreement has been tied up and the plant registration process is under way, meaning exports can start shortly.

British Pig Executive (BPEX) international manager Peter Hardwick said: “We have been working with Defra and the Australian authorities over the last year or so and we are all very pleased with the positive result.

The pork being sent out there will be high value, high welfare and it will all be heattreated, which means the majority of it will go for bacon manufacture. The unique feature of the UK is that we are able to deliver this high quality pork, rather than commodity pork.

Australian retailers are having difficulty sourcing such pork domestically and we are able to supply because we are ahead of the game, particularly with reference to the lack of sow stalls.”