Vol. 550 No. 4
248 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the action he will take to reopen international beef export markets which remain closed on Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, South Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines and a number of other smaller Middle East and north African countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9146/02]
It is my policy and that of the Government that everything possible is done to ensure that Irish livestock and meat producers have unrestricted access to all our important markets worldwide and no effort is being spared to bring this about.
On the question of third countries, many of which imposed bans on EU beef following the BSE crisis in mainland Europe, efforts at political, diplomatic and technical level are continuing to secure the reopening of these important markets. My Department, together with the Department of Foreign Affairs and An Bord Bia, is working intensively to emphasise to the authorities in those markets the positive results of our handling of BSE in this country and the guarantees in relation to food safety we can offer to consumers of Irish beef.
Particular attention is also being focused on the Gulf region which is a significant market for Irish beef. A senior veterinary official of my Department visited the region last year to brief the relevant authorities on our BSE situation. Our ambassador to Saudi Arabia has also kept in very close contact with the authorities in all the countries in the region and invitations to those countries have been issued to send technical delegations to Ireland to assess for themselves the quality of our beef production and the efficacy of our BSE controls. Similar invitations to send technical delegations have also issued to South Africa, Algeria, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Intensive contact is being maintained with these countries with a view to advancing our case for reopening of the markets. I myself have visited South Africa and have offered to send high level teams from my Department to brief their counterparts in these markets if this is required at any time.
