Martin Ferris
Question:9. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the effects on Irish beef producers of the Russian sanctions. [48285/14]
View answerThursday, 18 December 2014
Questions (9)
Oral answers (4 contributions)
Given the situation in Ukraine, with sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union and the West and counter-sanctions imposed by Russia, what has been the effect on Irish farmers and food producers? Does the Minister foresee this continuing?
Exports of all Irish offal to Russia have been suspended following an audit inspection by officials from the Russian Federation in May this year. It also resulted in the suspension of exports of other prime beef cuts from a number of meat plants supplying to Russia at the time. In late June the Russian Federation also introduced an EU-wide ban on beef trimmings owing to alleged adulteration of beef consignments with pork. This had nothing to do with Ireland. In addition, Russia introduced a ban on the import of some agricultural products, including beef, from the European Union in August.
While Russia is not a major destination for Irish beef exports, it does provide a useful alternative third country outlet for Irish beef, particularly beef offal. In 2013 Ireland exported 7,494 tonnes of beef, worth a little under €10 million, to Russia, the majority of which was beef offal. Overall, Ireland produced approximately 520,000 tonnes of beef in 2013 and of which Bord Bia estimates that around 470,000 tonnes was exported. The main markets for Irish beef are the United Kingdom and continental Europe, two of the highest priced markets in the world.
Given the relative size of the Russian market for Irish beef exports, the impact of the trade restrictions is limited. The price of beef has been rising in Ireland in recent weeks and increased by over 7% since the beginning of September. Third country market access for Irish beef is a priority of mine. I hope that in the next few weeks Irish beef exports to the United States will resume and that next year the market in China will open. Chinese scientific experts are examining our beef market with further meetings with my officials scheduled for tomorrow.
While we would like the Russian ban to be reversed, we are coping with it. The sanctions are having a big impact in some other sectors. In the meantime, I recently met the Russian ambassador to discuss offal exports to Russia.
Have we found alternative markets for our produce that Russia is now refusing to take?
Yes, we have. The particular market for offal in Russia was attractive for us, as there are limited markets that pay well for offal. That is why it would be good to export offal back into the Russian market, if we could. This is one of the conversations we are having with the Russian authorities. Other countries are having similar conversations. Ultimately, we want to get back to a normalised trading relationship with Russia. However, that is not possible because of other foreign policy and security issues linked with the situation in Ukraine.