Welsh beef exporters are set for a huge boost as the French government considers dropping a lengthy ban imposed amid fears about BSE.

Producers have lost millions of pounds in orders to countries such as France and Holland, following the collapse of the export market.

Farmers' Union of Wales and National Farmers' Union Cymru have welcomed the move, believing a Welsh stamp on joints of beef will prove crucial to reviving the lucrative export market.

FUW president Bob Parry hopes Welsh beef will begin to make a major comeback in France when exhibitors attend a key food event in Paris next month.

Exporters celebrated the resumption of beef exports to the Netherlands this week, with news that the first beef to be exported from Britain would be from the St Merryn meat plant in Merthyr Tydfil.

Bob Parry: 'Order hopes'

Mr Parry said the resumption of exports - worth millions of pounds each year to Welsh farmers - could also trigger a vital stabilisation in livestock prices and see farmers' depleted incomes rise.

"We are more or less going for a niche market, sending over the best quality meat to France," said Mr Parry.

"It is very important that meat is marketed by the country of origin.

"Welsh meat is perceived as having less BSE in herds and it is important we follow that."

He said the October 24 Paris food fayre was a key stepping stone for Welsh beef exports.

And NFU Cymru president Peredur Hughes said France now had no other option but to lift the ban.

" I call upon the European authorities to ensure that new procedures are put in place which prevent such flagrant violations of EU law in future," he said.

"This is a victory for British farmers - but a hollow one.

Who knows how much desperately-needed cash our industry has been deprived of in the last three years because of this ban?"

There have been no exports of beef up to now from Britain since February 2001, following the �8bn farming crisis.

Disease in Wales

70,000 slaughters on infected premises 216,000 slaughters due to dangerous contact 833,000 slaughters for welfare reasons Cost to Defra: �102m Average farm clean-up: �44,000 Loss to producers: �65m Loss to food industry: �25m Cost to UK private sector: �5bn Total lost UK GDP: 0.2%

The St Merryn plant, which employs 1,000 workers, has become the first in the country to meet new European requirements enabling it to process beef for export.

On Tuesday, Welsh Assembly Deputy First Minister Mike German stamped the first batch of beef to be processed under the new Date Based Export Scheme (DBES).

Cattle from farms across Wales will now be processed, ready for shipment to the Netherlands next week.

For the first time, the beef will be stamped as Welsh rather than British.

The beef industry in Wales was only just recovering from the BSE crisis - exporting �10m of beef during the year 2000 - when the foot-and-mouth outbreak struck.

Now the industry is hoping to resurrect its trade with other European countries.

The export of 2,466 live lambs through Dover to Holland marked a significant breakthrough for the rural economy.

Around two million lambs were exported from Wales annually before the foot-and-mouth crisis, a trade worth around �100m per year.

The export of live animals from the UK was suspended during last year's foot-and-mouth crisis in an effort to prevent the disease spreading to the continent.

The ban on sheep and pig exports was lifted earlier this year and a shipment of pigs for breeding has already taken place.