The decision follows an initiative from Northern Ireland Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Michelle Gildernew MP, MLA.

The Minister said: "Immediately upon hearing that the EU had approved the PSA Scheme for the South, I wrote to Hilary Benn, seeking his support to convey to the European Commission the impact of the incident on our pig industry.

"I made a strong case that our pig industry should not be placed at a competitive disadvantage. After all, the incident impacted on the whole island of Ireland, due to the significant movements of pigs across the border.

"Our priority is to ensure the future sustainability of our pig meat industry, which makes an important contribution to the North’s economy. I am delighted that pork and pig meat from our pigs have been declared safe to eat by the Food Standards Agency. The fact that a PSA Scheme will be open to our own industry as well as the South’s, is a most welcome development."