Britain is asking the United States to lift a 43-year-old ban on the import of haggis, the traditional Scottish food made from sheep heart, lungs, and liver.
Haggis was initially banned from being imported in 1971 as part of a general ban on any foods containing sheep’s lung. Then, as mad cow disease became a problem in the late 1980s, the import ban included all beef and lamb.
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Britain’s Environment Secretary Owen Paterson will meet with the U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to talk about the safety of British meat.
"I share many haggis producers' disappointment that American diners are currently unable to enjoy the taste of Scotland's wonderful national dish in their own country,"
Paterson said last week, Sky News reported. "I am meeting my U.S. counterpart today to discuss how we can begin exporting it, particularly as so many Americans enjoy celebrating their Scottish heritage.”
The haggis market in Britain is worth about $25.7 million, The Guardian said, and expectations are the dish would do well in America where the Scottish culture is popular.
"In my own constituency, we produce some of the finest lamb in the country, if not the world, so I know just how good Scottish meat can be,” Scottish secretary Alistair Carmichael told the Guardian. “It seems only right that the U.K. government continues to use its considerable influence to open up as many opportunities as possible, to reintroduce our produce where markets have been closed and to create new ones wherever it can.
"As for haggis, all I can say is, the Americans don't know what they're missing,” he added to the Guardian. “Let's try to put that right, too."
Some online apparently agreed:
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