What’s going on here? Blood for sale?

13 comments
  1. It’s not just blood. Biotech products like biological therapeutics are included in the classification even though no blood is used to produce them.

  2. It’s not true. There’s something in the HS system of classification of traded goods that is easy to mis-read, and whoever made the map did not allow for it. According to the published stats, Ireland’s pharma exports in 2020 included USD25 billion under a category called 30021500 “Immunological products put up in measured doses or in forms or packings for retail sale”. This forms part of a higher level category called 3002, whose text starts with “Human blood …” but goes on to also include various pharma products that do not involve blood. I don’t know precisely which products Ireland exports under this category, but they are certainly almost all non-blood products manufatured in pharma factories.

  3. Yes, everyone likes to say they’ve a little bit of Irish blood in them, so the government is now selling the blood people donate 😃 Where did you think the PUP payments were coming from?

  4. Is it anything to do with the ban on a lot of people of certain ages in the UK on donating blood so they need to import it from us?

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