Vol. 545 No. 3
39 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the terms under which Egypt has re-opened its beef market with Ireland; the number of licences sought by exporters to export beef to Egypt since the market was re-opened; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30145/01]
On 7 October I announced that the Egyptian authorities had that day published a decree to extend the existing European wide ban but, in a major development, the decree provided for an exemption for countries with BSE controls of the type operated by Ireland. This represented a major breakthrough which prepared the way for the long awaited reopening of the Egyptian market for Irish beef and followed intensive contact at political, diplomatic and technical level over the past number of months between Ireland and Egypt.
Since then contacts have been taking place between our Embassy in Cairo and the Egyptian authorities on matters relating to certification, specification and terms of supply. Commercial contacts have also taken place between importers and the authorities in Egypt. All details requested by the Egyptian authorities have been provided and the Egyptian authorities have now formally listed Ireland as a country which meets the required criteria for beef imports into Egypt.
Specifically, the Egyptian authorities have stated that they will permit beef imports on condition that the beef is derived from cattle from which the specified risk material has been removed, which are fully traceable, which test negatively for BSE, which have never been fed ruminant MBM and must only come from farms in which no case of BSE has occurred in the past three years. Animals must be less than 24 months old, based on routine dentition checks. Premises exporting beef to Egypt will also be subject to inspection by Egyptian veterinary officials.
