Vol. 559 No. 2
79 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will give details of the level of exports of beef to mainland EU and to the United Kingdom for the year 2002 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25754/02]
It is estimated that some 345,000 tonnes of beef will be exported to other member states of the EU in 2002. The principal destination for these exports is the United Kingdom, which will take 240,000 tonnes. The remaining 105,000 tonnes will be exported to Holland, 29,000 tonnes, Italy, 22,000 tonnes, Scandinavia, 30,000 tonnes and France, 16,000 tonnes, the balance being destined for other smaller markets.
All our principal EU markets have recovered well, indicating that the slump in consumption as a direct result of BSE has eased significantly.
