MoD to buy imported beef

26 July 2000



MoD to buy imported beef

IMPORTED beef will soon be fed to the Armed Forces personnel because the government says the home-grown product is too expensive.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) says value-for-money rules forces it to look overseas for supplies.

The Daily Mail reports sources who claim that Buying British would add 6m to the Forces food bill.

But meat industry figures say farmers struggling against the strong pound and safety controls in the wake of the BSE crisis should be made a special case.

At present the 200,000 servicemen and women are fed British beef from EU intervention stocks.

But stocks are dwindling, and on Tuesday (25 July) the government announced that it would buy more supplies from overseas.

A Meat and Livestock Commission spokesman said the ministry should show some leeway to help farmers.

Already the MoD sources most of its lamb from overseas because it could not strike a deal with farmers on price, capacity and logistics.

In contrast, most of the Forces pork, bacon and gammon come from UK farmers.