Vol. 410 No. 4
12 Mr. Kavanagh asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will outline the action the Government have taken at European Community level to prevent the dumping of masses of cheap poor quality farm produce from East Germany and from other East European countries which has had disastrous consequences for the Irish farming industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The consequences for the European Community's Common Agricultural Policy of the economic reform process currently under way in the countries of East Europe are kept under constant review by both the Council of Ministers and the Commission. The Community believes that the development of agriculture and the food industry has an important part to play in supporting the political and economic developments in those countries and assisting the transition from command to market economies.
Under various international agreements and conventions the Community accepts imports — including agricultural products — under strict controls of quotas, duties and levies. In the event of any threat from such imports to a commodity market in the Community, safeguard measures are operated. This was the case recently when imports of calves from Poland were suspended. We have sought and obtained from the German Government assurances on the strict monitoring of imports from third countries.
In an effort to avoid undue disruption to the markets of other member states, arising from unification, the German Government have introduced national subsidies to ensure the export of surplus agricultural products — principally sheepmeat and beef — from the five new Lander to their traditional markets in Eastern Europe, particularly the USSR. Also, the milk quota allocated to the new Lander has been set at a level substantially below previous production levels.
While I accept that agricultural imports from Eastern Europe have contributed to the difficult market conditions in a number of sectors, they are not the only cause. Increased production and falling demand as well as animal health problems and the outfall from the Gulf crisis have all played a part in the Community's market difficulties.
I can assure the Deputy that I will continue, at the Council of Ministers, to monitor the impact of concessionary imports and to ensure the safety of our markets within the Community.
Will the Minister say how a land area larger than the size of this county could be allowed into the Community without the negotiations which took place when we were applying for entry? The Minister said that additional imports from these areas did not have an effect but he should know that it had a devastating effect, not just in this country but on the Continent of Europe itself. As that is our main market it must have knock-on effects for this country. I am not aware of any protest by the Minister in regard to the flooding of West Germany with East German products in the period since August 1990.
I presume the Deputy is referring to the reunification of Germany when he says that a land area bigger than Ireland was allowed into the European Community without having to go through the process of application. It is strange that a socialist Member of the House seems to reject the fact that Germany is reunited in democracy.
We are talking about agriculture.
Are the Labour Party saying there should not have been support for that? As the Deputy must know, the political unification of Germany was decided at political level in Germany and within the European Community, not at the Agriculture Council. I have consistently stressed that while welcoming those political developments the producers of Europe, particularly in our own country, should not have to pay the price for them. For that reason I am glad to tell the Deputy that I have consistently pressed for and have received assurances that the budget adjustments that are required to incorporate what was formally the German Democratic Republic into the European Community will be made. As I have mentioned in my reply, I have made it very clear both on a recent visit to East Germany and in the course of constant discussions with the Commission and the Council that we want the strictest possible monitoring to ensure that there will not be penetration in the European Community by the back door through East Germany and the German authorities have given me that assurance.
May I ask the Minister what specific steps he has taken and what assurances he has been given at EC level to ensure that benefits which would normally accrue to members of the EC under the Common Agricultural Policy will not be dissipated in any way and that we will not suffer as a consequence of German unification? What commitments has the Minister been given that benefits will not flow from Irish agriculture to East Germany under the Common Agricultural Policy?
Clearly within a community benefits never flow from one part of the community to another. The Deputy understands how a community operates. He asked if specific commitments have been given that benefits will not flow to East Germany at our expense. If the French or Belgians had sought that commitment when we joined it would never have been possible to expand the European Community.
We received commitments when we joined the Community.
I have been given a specific commitment, in view of the fact that East Germany is now within the European Community, that (a) adequate budgetary resources will be provided to ensure that the application of supports to Ireland will not be affected and (b) that East Germany will not be used as an avenue for product coming through from other countries. The monitoring and control is very strict and is subject to very specific levies.
May I ask the Minister why it took until recently for the Commission to decide to stop imports from the Eastern bloc countries while farm incomes generally were reduced by 20 per cent? It took six or eight months for this decision to be made. Why was the decision not made sooner?
As to why something was done at a certain time, maybe that demonstrates the constant lobbying and pressure that I and some colleagues applied at the Council to ensure that those protections were put in place. As to why the decision was not made earlier, I cannot give the Deputy a full and satisfactory answer; but I am satisfied that the case we made has been fully recognised.
Question No. 14.
Was the Minister not aware that this type of action would lead to reduction in farm incomes in Ireland?
I was so aware and therefore I constantly lobbied to ensure that we got the assurances and protections that have been put in place.
It took eight months.
