This Bill, as its title shows, aims at regulating the export of eggs and makes provision for the registration of premises concerned in the export of eggs. The Bill is confined exclusively to the regulation of the export trade. The Bill, which is at present passing through the Northern Parliament, makes provision for the registration and regulation of all wholesale dealers in eggs. It is considered that it would be impossible to administer efficiently here a Bill so wide in its scope, and hence we have confined ourselves to the regulation and registration of exporters. It is not generally realised that the egg and poultry trade is one of the most important items in our export trade of agricultural produce, but that is the fact. The following are the figures for the export of agricultural produce from all Ireland during 1921:—
|
£ |
|
|
Cattle and Beef |
24,083,930 |
|
Eggs, with Poultry and Feathers |
11,071,834 |
|
Pigs, Bacon, Hams, etc. |
9,836,302 |
|
Butter, Cheese, Milk, etc. |
7,122,768 |
|
Sheep and Mutton |
2,136,949 |
The following is an estimate of the agricultural exports from the Free State for the year beginning 1st April, 1923, and ending 31st March, 1924:—
|
£ |
|
|
Cattle |
13,545,000 |
|
Sheep |
1,271,000 |
|
Pigs and Pig Products |
5,886,000 |
|
Butter |
3,850,000 |
|
Eggs, Poultry Feathers |
3,560,000 |
It will be seen that in 1921 eggs and poultry ranked in importance next to cattle and beef, and above either bacon or butter. The figures for 1923-24 show that the egg and poultry trade is not as valuable as the pig and bacon trade, and is about as valuable as the butter trade. It must be remembered that the exports of eggs from Northern Ireland ports include about twenty per cent. of eggs that are produced in the Free State. These figures show the possibilities of the Irish egg trade, and definitely establish the fact that it is well worth our while to take whatever measures are necessary to arrest the decline that has set in in that trade, and to improve and develop it in the future. We must be careful not to read too much into these sets of figures. It has to be remembered that the first set of figures are all Ireland figures; and represent 1921 values, and in addition, that as Russia and Denmark were cut off from the English market during the European War, Irish exports would, naturally, increase automatically. On the other hand, the European War is now over for about five years, and we can now fairly compare the position of Ireland with the position of Denmark as a supplier of poultry products to the English market. The chief pre-war suppliers to that market were Russia, who supplied approximately 10,500,000 hundreds—they count in hundreds in the egg trade, I understand—Ireland, 6,300,000 hundreds, and Denmark 4,000,000 hundreds. It will be seen that Russia was far the largest supplier. Russia does a large trade in cheap eggs, and out of a total market of about 23,000,000 hundreds, about half is for low-priced eggs. The principal suppliers in 1923, omitting Russia, were Denmark, 6,757,000 hundreds, and Ireland 6,440,000 hundreds. Of the Irish supply, about 4,400,000 hundreds were produced in the Free State; while about 2,000,000 hundreds were produced in Northern Ireland. It will thus be noticed that Denmark has displaced Ireland. Before the war the Irish export was more than fifty per cent. greater than Danish, now it is less, and getting steadily less.
It is to prevent this process continuing and, in fact, to reverse it, that this legislation is introduced, and when it is remembered that we are dealing with an export trade which, under favourable circumstances, should be worth six or eight millions to us, we must realise that it is worth while taking drastic measures to deal with the present unsatisfactory state of affairs.
It is admitted that Irish eggs, if marketed in a fresh condition, are superior in point of flavour to any other eggs to be found on the British market. This stands to reason. We have every natural advantage, and yet, in spite of these advantages, the present position is that our trade displays practical stagnation, while that of our principal competitors has steadily gone forward. The reasons for this are admitted. It is because a very large percentage of our eggs reach the English market carelessly packed in unsuitable packing material, sometimes in a dirty condition, sometimes short in number, and sometimes with good eggs and stale eggs, fresh eggs and preserved eggs mixed in the same case. In this way the reputation of Irish eggs, as a whole, has been depreciated; and the very large number of efficient farmers and efficient exporters who sent their eggs to market, as they should be sent, find that their produce suffers the same fate, gets the same reputation, and fetches the same price as the second-class produce which I have mentioned, and which has depreciated the reputation of Irish produce as a whole. We cannot allow this state of affairs to continue any longer. To my mind the function of the State in regard to trade is to look after the producer who looks after himself; to put a premium on efficiency, and to see to it that the producer who is either too lax or too careless to do his business properly, is not in a position to rob his more hard-working and more intelligent neighbour of the fruits of his work and organisation.
Under this Bill, eggs will not be allowed to leave the Free State, except in small parcels, unless they have been tested, graded and packed in premises registered by the Ministry of Agriculture for this purpose, and no premises will be registered unless they are suitable and are properly equipped for the business of an export trade; that is to say, unless they are kept in a state of cleanliness; unless they are graded, and unless the premises have the appliances necessary to enable the testing, grading and packing to be properly carried on. This is not going to be an expensive Bill on the exporter. It never was a good excuse for inefficiency in this trade that the particular exporter was only in a small way. Cleanliness in the premises and in the packing costs nothing and the appliances required are of the simplest and most inexpensive kind. There are ample powers of examination and inspection of officers of the Ministry, and there are substantial penalties provided for contravention of the provisions of the Bill. The industry, it is hoped, will benefit by this legislation, and it is being asked to contribute a fair proportion of the cost. Arrangements are made under which each exporter will pay an initial registration fee of £1, and an annual fee of one penny on each complete thirty dozen eggs.
As already stated, we have concentrated our efforts on the exporter. It would be impossible to deal with all wholesalers. There are too many small wholesalers, and while we might take power to regulate their trade, it would be impossible to administer these regulations. Moreover, the exporters are the principal wholesalers for the internal trade, and we regulate their trade, whether it is internal or external. All exporters will be required to observe the same regulations as regard testing, grading and packing for the home trade as for the export trade, and finally, it is made an offence for anyone in the country to seal or expose for sale any dirty eggs or eggs unfit for human consumption. Less than one-third of the eggs produced in Ireland are consumed at home. The industry is mainly an export industry, and it is quite certain that if the export trade, which represents the greatest volume of the industry is set right, the balance will automatically become right also.
The Bill has been prepared in consultation with the Associations, which number about half a dozen, which represent the trade, and they are in agreement with us in regard to the main lines of the Bill.