Vol. 505 No. 3
119 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the beef export markets lost arising from BSE or other concerns; the number of these markets restored in the past two years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13813/99]
In the aftermath of the BSE crises in 1996 many markets outside of the EU restricted or banned imports of beef. Following in some cases prolonged negotiations, all of the traditionally important markets for Irish beef are now open. We are now focusing on some of what would have been secondary markets where market access problems persist. These markets include Turkey, Jordan, Tunisia and Syria.
While there was no ban placed on Irish beef by any EU member state there was a loss of market share due to an increased consumer preference on some of those markets for their own, domestically produced, beef. While there has been considerable progress made in regaining these markets, it remains one of the major priorities for the Irish beef industry to recover and improve its presence on EU markets. The beef task force, which I have established, is examining this matter in the context of an action plan for the whole industry, right through from primary production through to processing and marketing. I am expecting the task force to complete its report very shortly.
