THE SOUTH African government has lifted its ban on EU beef and dairy products.
The move comes as the beef industry braces itself for the results of dioxin tests on cattle which received contaminated feedstuff.
However, South Africa said the ban on the importation of Irish pork would remain in place pending further investigations.
The South African government had cited the free movement of animal feed around the EU as its main reason for the initial ban on all meat and dairy products.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland said it expected the results of the dioxin tests from the 45 farms, on which nearly 10,000 cattle were fed contaminated product, to be available this evening.
The investigation into the source of the oil which contaminated the feed at the Millstream Recycling company continues.
A number of oil plants in the Leinster area have been visited by the Garda and officials from the Environmental Protection Agency are auditing the movement of oils used in the food industry.
The issue was raised in the Dáil by Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris who said it had been claimed by some people involved in the sector that a company licensed to export oil from electricity transformers had supplied contaminated oil to the feed industry.
"That, if true, is a serious claim and one that needs to be thoroughly investigated. Presumably it may be one of the aspects of the case that is being examined at the moment by the gardaí," he said.
However, Ireland's largest electricity supplier, the ESB, said last night it had in place extensive procedures for the management and disposal of waste oils, including transformer oils.
"All oil taken from transformers is isolated and independently tested prior to disposal by a company called Tel-labs," it said.
"Special procedures exist, involving the export to Britain for disposal, for oil that is found to have amounts in excess of the legal threshold which is 50 parts per million.
It said the EPA-licensed company that disposes of ESB's waste oil, has confirmed in writing to ESB that it does not supply to the food industry.