The UK has secured new access specifically for Northern Irish exporters through dedicated negotiations with Mexico.

The twelve approved businesses will also now be able to export offal and edible by-products, bringing British pig farmers a return on parts that are less popular in the UK but which Mexican consumers relish as part of classical buche meat dishes.

With consumption in Mexico’s pork market growing by 5.4% annually between 2019 and 2024, industry estimates expect the deal to bring in £19m over the first five years.

The 12 sites approved 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

This successful outcome follows eight years of negotiations between Mexican and UK authorities led by Defra, including Food Standards Agency, DAERA and industry partnerships with valuable support from the Department for Business and Trade and the FCDO.

The deal will 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), making quality British produce even more competitive in this growing market.

Russian pork exports in January-April this year surpassed poultry exports in terms of revenue for the first time, exceeding US$298 million, according to Ilya Ilyushin, head of the Federal Center for Agricultural Exports, as reported by Forbes.

The main buyers of Russian pork this year have been Belarus (over $100 million), Vietnam (over $88 million), and China (over $50 million). Experts attribute the growth in pork exports to the expansion of supplies to key markets, especially China. From January to April 2024, China purchased US$7.5 million worth of Russian pork, and in the same period of 2025, the figure jumped to more than US$50 million.

The leaders in poultry meat purchases from Russia are China (about US$127 million), Saudi Arabia (over US$71 million), and Kazakhstan (over US$26 million). High demand for Russian poultry remains, especially in the Chinese market.

The Commission is taking steps to allow EU Member States to pay higher advances of Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) funds to farmers, thus helping to address the liquidity problems that many of them currently face. If Member States make use of this authorisation, farmers will be able to receive up to 70% of their direct payments in advance as of 16 October, compared with 50% currently. Similarly, advance payments for area and animal-based interventions under rural development can be increased by up to 85%, instead of the usual 75%.

EU farmers continue to face liquidity problems that have arisen due to an exceptional combination of adverse events, notably due to extreme weather events which have had an impact on yields in recent years, as well as the uncertainty created by trade tensions. To respond to these challenges, and in line with one of the CAP's fundamental objectives to provide an economic safety net for EU farmers, a large majority of Member States requested this authorisation.

The Commission took swift action to provide this much-needed support to EU farmers while also ensuring legal certainty for Member States.