Good news for pig farmers as Taiwan prepares to welcome British pork exports for the first time.

UK pork exports were worth £290 million to the UK economy last year, reaching over 80 export markets. This new agreement is expected to be worth more than £50 million over the next five years.

The deal also means UK exporters can further tap in to the overseas demand for parts of the pig carcass that are not commonly purchased in the UK, such as offal.

This means UK farmers and pork processors will be able to generate income for the whole carcass.

The deal has been secured by the UK government, working with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and UK Export Certification Partnership (UKECP). Exporters can take advantage of the market as soon as the administrative listing process is completed and export certification is made available.

It follows a number of recent successes for UK food and drink exports, which reached a record level of £22 billion in 2017. Last month, China lifted its two-decade long ban on UK beef exports following the BSE outbreak. The agreement will allow official market access negotiations to begin, estimated to be worth over £250million in the first five years alone.