US to import British meat for first time in almost two decades

British beef and lamb will be back on the menu in the United States for the first time in nearly 20 years.

The Government is set to announce an agreement has been reached to lift a ban on the sale of meats in a move which could boost the economy by £35 million a year.

British beef and lamb was previously deemed unsafe amid fears over “mad cow disease”.

The deal signals the UK’s first major foreign trade pact since last month’s historic Brexit vote.

It comes after Government officials delivered a 1,000 page dossier to American counterparts in April which outlined improved standards on British farms since the “mad cow disease” affair.

The United States imposed a ban on importing British beef and lamb in 1998 amid fears the meat was unsafe for consumption at the height of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) crisis.

The US Government will launch a 60-day consultation in which it will seek to confirm whether the UK meets its food safety and animal standards.

If all runs smoothly, British beef and lamb could be available to US consumers by early 2017.