Offal from meat factories in the Republic could be sent to Northern Ireland for rendering at a much cheaper rate than the process is being carried out here, the Department of Agriculture and Food confirmed yesterday.
The spokesman confirmed a report that it was looking at the rates being paid in other parts of the European Union and the possibilities of exporting meat factory waste abroad.
"We understand the costs are lower in Northern Ireland and Britain and there is one company, as far as I know, sending offal to the North for rendering," the spokesman said.
He said there was no regulation banning the trans-border shipment of offal and it was already happening on mainland Europe.
The regulations do not, however, permit the trans-border shipment of Specified Risk Material (SRM) from animals, the spokesman said.
Specified Risk Material is made up of the organs of cattle and sheep, which BE-like diseases could infect, and which would, therefore, be a risk to human health.
These SRMs are stored, transported and rendered into meat and binomial at segregated rendering plants before being exported to Germany for incineration.
A report in the Irish Farmers Journal said it has been costing the meat industry in the Republic €160 a tonne or £112 to have offal rendered without subsidy, whereas the cost in Northern Ireland was £55 a tonne.
It said the costs in Britain varied from £35-£70 a tonne and in the Netherlands, €95 per tonne.
The Department of Agriculture spokesman said that because it was no longer mandatory in Britain or Northern Ireland to slaughter and render all animals over 30 months, there would be enormous over-capacity in the rendering industry in the future.
"I expect all the players in the sector will be looking at all the options," he said.
Last week the Department of Agriculture and Food extended its subsidy of €250 per tonne to Irish renderers until June 1st.
Up until March 1st, it had been subsidising the industry at the rate of €410 per tonne.