Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 29 Jan 2003

Vol. 560 No. 1

Written Answers. - Meat and Poultry Imports.

Paul McGrath

Question:

250 Mr. P. McGrath asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the volumes of beef, pork, lamb-mutton and chicken imported in each of the past five years; if he will indicate the country of origin of these meat products; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1788/03]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

The Central Statistics Office is responsible for the collection of statistics in relation to imports of meat and meat preparations. The following tables, which were complied from data supplied by that office, set out the details requested by the Deputy. In relation to the tables the following points should be noted: data is not available for the last quarter of 2002; in certain cases the record of import may include the re-import of Irish products that were originally the subject of an export from this country; the information available for imports from member states of the European Union does not differentiate between imports originating in the EU country and those originating from third countries that may already be in free circulation within the Community.

On a more general point, it should be noted that under EU harmonised rules, imports into the European Union from third countries must have been sourced in premises and in countries which are approved by the European Commission and which are subject to veterinary audits by the EU's food and veterinary office. In addition, such imports are subject to checks on import laid down in harmonised rules prescribed at European level, and must be accompanied by veterinary health certification from the authorities in the country of export.

Imports of Beef – EU Countries

Country of Origin	Tonnes
	1998	1999	2000	2001	September 2002
Austria		1	406	37	82
Belgium	74	45	352	556	106
Germany	75	21	54	465	796
Denmark	88	117	1	135	99
Spain	13	88	15	14	1
France	937	265	344	915	730
Great Britain	4,968	4,304	4,782	4,644	2,799
Ireland		88	192	1,177	76
Italy	12	8	181	286	79
Netherlands	1,634	452	616	566	701
Portugal	13
Sweden	518			1	28
Nortern Ireland	2,037	740	404	129	1,364
Totals	10,369	6,129	7,347	8,925	6,861

Imports of Beef – Non-EU Countries

Country of Origin	Tonnes
	1998	1999	2000	2001	September 2002
Australia	0	5
Argentina	161	36		59	67
Bangledesh				1
Bahrain				24
Bosnia and Herzegovnia					2
Brazil	347	1,113	2,167	3,335	2,861
Czech Republic	115
Egypt	297			3,891
Iceland				11
Iran					30
Indonisia				163
Jamaica	24
Japan	6			375
Kenya		6
Kuwait	6
Namibia					151
Nicaragua				3
Norway					3
New Zealand	204	121	1	0
Philippines				26
Saudi Arabia				340
South Korea	22
Syria		0
Switzerland
Togo			0	0
Uraguay	285	237	236	115	593
USA	0			18	0
South Africa				24
Totals	1,467	1,518	2,404	8,385	3,707

Note: "0" indicates imports of less than one tonne.

Imports of Pigmeat – EU Countries

Country of Origin	Tonnes
	1998	1999	2000	2001	September 2002
Austria			1	1	28
Belgium	617	425	449	504	595
Germany	2,451	2,419	2,557	4,334	4,668
Denmark	4,189	3,898	3,895	5,751	3,286
Spain	18	25	20	95	13
Finland		1			129
France	3,658	2,263	3,781	4,615	3,599
Great Britain	11,296	9,773	11,590	13,730	9,472
Greece			41		3

Country of Origin	Tonnes
	1998	1999	2000	2001	September 2002
Ireland		862	264	3,083	3,896
Italy	197	323	259	467	307
Luxemburg					3
Netherlands	5,245	6,807	8,753	7,774	6,692
Portugal				1	1
Sweden	0		56		3
Northern Ireland	6,640	5,041	5,263	2,770	2,162
Totals	34,311	31,837	36,929	43,125	34,857

Imports of Pigmeat – Non-EU Countries

Country of Origin	Tonnes
	1998	1999	2000	2001	September 2002
Argentina			53	19	5
Australia			0
Ivory Coast		1			4
Canada		0
China			0	4	0
Dominica	2
Hong Kong			0	0	0
Hungary	6	3	7	3	0
Iran			0
Japan				578
Lithuania					3
North Korea			20	8
Mali			46	2
New Zealand	0		0
Poland	1	10	4	3
Romania		1	1
Russia	48
Sudan		1
Togo			67	21
USA	356	363	71	35	52
Vietnam					0
South Africa				0
Totals	413	379	269	673	64

Note: "0" indicates imports of less than one tonne.

Imports of Mutton – EU Countries

Country of Origin	Tonnes
	1998	1999	2000	2001	September 2002
Germany			2	12	155
Denmark	19	31	13
Spain	2			4
France	25		49	88	67
Great Britain	943	957	1,258	1,091	541
Ireland		3	79		6
Italy	0	3		7
Netherlands	22	10	1	0	17
Portugal				13
Northern Ireland	35	20	31	29	31
Totals	1,046	1,024	1,433	1,244	817

Note: "0" indicates imports of less than one tonne.

Imports of Mutton – Non-EU Countries

Country of Origin	Tonnes
	1998	1999	2000	2001	September 2002
Australia	24	9	8	46	56
Brazil			18
Chile		11
China	3	1
New Zealand	721	470	427	376	422
Switzerland	1
Turkey				198	187
USA		1	47
Totals	749	492	500	620	665

Imports of Poultry – EU Countries

Country of Origin	Tonnes
	1998	1999	2000	2001	September 2002
Belgium	165	639	3,132	2,000	2,017
Germany	192	382	295	656	1,342
Denmark	1,569	1,738	1,028	833	221
Spain	39	392	341	2	83
France	1,671	1,794	1,357	1,035	1,118
Great Britain	10,013	12,288	13,047	9,960	6,205
Greece	190		10
Ireland		63	74	159	121
Italy	1,154	2,157	1,308	1,318	938
Netherlands	2,710	4,520	6,765	7,836	6,187
Portugal		1	20
Sweden	16	19	47
Northern Ireland	5,297	9,121	6,631	6,056	2,940
Totals	23,016	33,114	34,055	29,882	21,172

Imports of Poultry – Non-EU Countries

Country of Origin	Tonnes
	1998	1999	2000	2001	September 2002
Bangladesh				1,305
Bosnia and Herzegovina				283
Brazil	30	114	301	697	664
Ivory Coast		4	14
Chile			1	20	48
Czech Republic				0	2
Faeroe Islands			0
Gabon					1
Hungary		1	21	40	85
Iceland	2	13
Israel		5	74	117	110
Japan				45
Niger			37
Nicaragua			8
Poland		58			40
Slovakia	11
Thailand	46	71	312	692	537
Totals	89	266	768	3,199	1,487

Note: "0" indicates imports of less than one tonnee.