Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 July 2019
709. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if an overview will be provided of the China Seafood Council initiative of Bord Iascaigh Mhara; and the 2019 funding allocation for the programme. [31127/19]
View answerThe China Council was established by Bord Iascaigh Mhara in order to adopt a more structured and cohesive approach to the Chinese market by Irish companies. The Council facilitates the formation of collectives, whereby companies come together to form a group/collective to pool resources and lower market development costs. The council provides a forum for the members to promote the Irish shellfish producing industry and to address common export opportunities and challenges in the Chinese market, which can be of mutual benefit to all the members operating in the Chinese market.
BIM, as the facilitator of the Council, has undertaken a number of EMFF-funded projects to support the work of the Council. For example, projects have been undertaken to evaluate the supply chain and understand the market opportunities for Irish Shellfish in the tier one cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen and a market analysis and culinary profile was undertaken for brown crab in tier one cities to establish a premium position for live and frozen brown crab.
At this time, BIM has not submitted any request to my Department for 2019 EMFF funding of any project connected to the China Council.
