Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 February 2009
196 Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the efforts expected to ensure adequacy and security of food supply throughout the EU having particular regard to the World Trade Organisation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5481/09]
View answerAccording to the European Commission's latest statistics, the EU's overall trade in agricultural produce is fairly close to balance with its total trade of almost €153 billion in 2007, split between imports of €77.4 billion and exports of €75.1 billion. Broadly speaking, the EU is a net importer of raw products such as tropical products, certain fruit and vegetables and oils/oilseeds while it is a net exporter of more processed products such as food preparations and beverages. It currently has a surplus of dairy products, whilst trade in livestock and cereal products is in balance.
European food security and agricultural production issues are dealt with through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which is constantly evolving to meet the demands of increased globalisation, including our responsibilities under the WTO, and the need to remain competitive on EU and world commodity markets. The CAP has responded to change through a series of reforms in recent decades. For example, the 2003 reforms of the CAP, with the introduction of the decoupling of direct payments under the Single Payment Scheme, allowed farmers to respond to the demands of the market and effectively meet consumers' needs.
In the initial discussions on the shape of the CAP after 2013, I and other Ministers, have emphasised the crucial importance of ensuring the security of supply of safe, high quality food for European consumers.
