Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 16 May 2001

Vol. 536 No. 3

Written Answers - Export Markets.

Alan M. Dukes

Question:

92 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the talks he has had with the authorities in Egypt, the Gulf states and Russia with a view to securing access to those markets for Irish livestock and meat; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13896/01]

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (Mr. Walsh)

The task of recovering markets for Irish beef is based very much on a restoration of confidence in the safety of our product. With that in mind, I and senior officials of my Department travelled to Egypt last December and met with the Egyptian authorities in Cairo in an effort to secure restoration of this market for Irish beef. The Taoiseach also spoke with Egyptian President Mubarak on this matter. Further visits to Egypt were undertaken by officials of my Department this year, the most recent being at the end of April and I also took the opportunity earlier this month to raise the matter with a visiting Egyptian ministerial delegation.

With regard to the Gulf States, a senior veterinary official of my Department visited Saudi Arabia in January to assure the Saudi authorities on the level and effectiveness of the controls in place in Ireland. Both the Tánaiste, Deputy Mary Harney, and the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Deputy Ó Cuív, in the course of recent official visits to Oman and Bahrain availed of the opportunity to brief officials in those countries on the BSE situation in Ireland. I am satisfied that the Egyptian and Saudi authorities, being the major markets in the region, have a full appreciation of the low level of BSE in Ireland and of the way in which it is dealt with and the effectiveness of the many layers of controls and checks that are in place. However, in many of our non-EU markets, and Egypt is a good example, the situation has been exacerbated by adverse public opinion as a result of sensationalised media reporting on BSE and, in particular, on the BSE developments in those EU countries which encountered their first cases last year.

The situation with regard to Russia is that while there are county restrictions in place, Ireland had been free to trade in beef up until our FMD outbreak which led to the imposition of a ban. I had invited the Russian Minister for Agriculture and the Russian Chief Veterinary Officer, both of whom were newly appointed to their posts late last year, to visit Ireland to satisfy themselves as to the level and effectiveness of the BSE controls in place in Ireland. These invitations still stand. The Irish Embassy in Moscow and An Bord Bia are maintaining close contact with the Russian authorities with a view to re-opening trade at the earliest possible date.

While every effort, both directly and through diplomatic channels, is being made to re-open third country markets to Irish beef and livestock, it is, however, clear that a restoration of exports to those markets is linked to an easing of the concerns about BSE at EU level.