asked the Minister for Agriculture whether his attention has been directed to a statement that the British Board of Trade is considering an application for the imposition of customs duty on Irish butter; and whether he will make a statement on the matter in view of the provisions of Articles I and V of the Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement of 1948 under which Great Britain undertook not to vary the preferential treatment of the traditional imports of butter from Ireland in such a way as to put them at a disadvantage in relation to butter from other sources enjoying preferential treatment.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - British Customs Duty on Irish Butter.
It is understood from the British Board of Trade that the board recently received applications from the home National Farmers' Unions and Milk Marketing Boards and from the New Zealand Government for the imposition under the Customs Duties (Dumping and Subsidies) Act, 1957, of an anti-dumping duty on butter imports originating in a number of countries including Ireland. The Deputy can be assured that our position under the Anglo-Irish Trade Agreements and all other relevant considerations have been fully gone into with the British authorities in relation to the matter and will be energetically pursued.
In view of the fact that one of the grounds on which these representations were made to the Board of Trade in Great Britain appears to have been that Ireland was not a traditional supplier of butter on the British market, will the Minister direct the attention of the British Board of Trade to the historical fact that Ireland was supplying the British market with butter before New Zealand was discovered?
The Deputy can be assured that he does not have to resort to any wonderful effort to convince me of the unjustifiability of the effort being made in regard to our butter exports. He can also be assured that every available evidence will, naturally, be availed of in order to sustain a case that is very strong on our side.
And so firmly based on international agreement.