The Netherlands is to begin exporting veal to China after 18 years of negotiations, the Financieele Dagblad said on Friday.

The Netherlands is the first country in Europe to gain entry to this large market which remains closed to other exporters as well as to Dutch producers of other sorts of meat, the paper said.

In announcing the opening of the veal market, Dutch agriculture minister Carla Schouten, who is on the current trade mission to China, said: ‘The export of veal to the Chinese is good news for the Dutch farmer. A lot of people have worked towards this for a long time.’

China closed its doors to European meat in the late 1990s after the outbreak of mad cow disease. The disease has been under control for many years, but not entirely removed from Europe. A cow infected with BSE died two years ago in France.

Reputation

The good international reputation of the Dutch meat sector helped diplomats to lift the ban, said Henny  Swinkels, director of the family-owned Van Drie of Apeldoorn, one of the world’s leading calf producers in the world.

Swinkels says the market for veal must be developed but estimates annual sales of between €20m and €30m from 2021. Swinkels believes China will open the market for other meat before long. ‘The door has been opened.,’ he said.

About 92% of Dutch veal, worth €2bn a year, is exported. The biggest market is Italy, followed by Germany and France.  The markets in the US and Japan were opened only two years ago.