The Irish Meat Association has called for the introduction of an emergency price-support intervention scheme for Irish beef as uncertainty grips European markets because of BSE.
Italian farmers blocked an Alpine tunnel north of Turin on Monday to prevent French beef from entering the country.
An Irish truck from the AIBP company was caught up in the blockade and, despite the efforts of the Irish Embassy in Rome and the Irish Food Board in Milan, the farmers would not allow the vehicle through. Last night it was returning to Ireland.
However, a spokesman at An Bord Bia offices in Milan said some trucks carrying Irish beef into Italy on Monday and yesterday had got through.
The Italian market is very important to Ireland, taking 32,000 tonnes of beef annually, and last year 76,000 live animals from Ireland were imported there.
Calling for emergency price-support intervention, the chief executive of the Irish Meat Association, Mr John Smith, described the current situation facing exporters as "grim".
He said that while the farm ministers had responded to consumer concerns by introducing new BSE testing, they had failed to introduce market supports.
Last night the main farm organisations came out in support of testing all animals for slaughter for BSE in order to protect Irish exports, which are worth up to £2 billion annually.
"A short-term emergency intervention system with modifications is urgently needed to deal with the immediate market difficulties," said Mr Smith. "Both male and female animals should be eligible.
"We need a system of intervention which will take product off the markets for at least six to eight weeks and which will take at least 20,000 tonnes of beef off the market," he said.
"In addition, we need an increase in the level of EU export refunds to help us compete in markets outside the EU."
Already Irish beef has been caught in the crossfire of the BSE crisis, which began in France three weeks ago when a major supermarket chain found that beef from a BSE-infected herd had gone on sale in its stores.
Yesterday, following a 17-hour meeting of farm ministers in Brussels, agreement was reached on increased levels of testing for BSE in Europe's cattle.
The Consumer Affairs Commissioner, Mr David Byrne, expressed satisfaction yesterday that the ministers had agreed to carry out BSE testing on casualty and other at-risk animals from January.
Based on the information obtained from this increased testing he said he hoped testing of all animals over 30 months would be introduced in the middle of next year.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, said he was pleased at the successful outcome of the meeting, which had adopted a community approach to the sensitive issues involved. He had also impressed on the Agriculture Commissioner, Mr Franz Fischler, the need to be prepared to take appropriate action to support the market as a matter of urgency.
Mr Tom Parlon, the IFA president, said that while it too wanted market supports, its proposals involved additional testing to guarantee Irish beef was BSE-free.
The president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association, Mr Pat O'Rourke, said consumer confidence could only be maintained by science-based protection measures, and additional testing should be financed by the EU.
The Labour Party's spokeswoman on food safety, Ms Mary Upton, called on the Government to move towards full testing of livestock intended for slaughter if it was serious about eliminating BSE.