Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 May 2020
900. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the breakdown in respect of the figures printed in the Annual Report 2018 of his Department in relation to the item marked other on the chart on page 10 in respect of agri-food sector imports and also in respect of item marked other on page 11 of the report in respect of prepared consumer food imports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6555/20]
View answerData on agri-food sector trade in my Department's Annual Report is broken down into 26 categories identified and agreed by my Department and the Central Statistics Office. Products and Raw Goods are categorised using combined nomenclature (CN) codes, a European harmonised system used to classify goods for customs and trade. These categories include non-edible agri-food items such as Forestry and Animal Hides & Skins along with traditional food and beverage products.
The chart on page 10 of the Annual Report depicts the imports of agri-food products by category for the calendar year 2018. The "Other" category in this chart is comprised of Pigmeat, Forestry products, Fish, Live Animals, Vegetable Oils & Fats, Crude Animal & Vegetable Material, Wood Based Products, Beef, Other Meat & Meat Produce, Oilseeds & Oleaginous Fruit, Sheepmeat, Flax, Wool & Animal Hair, Eggs, Animal Oils & Fats, Animal Skins & Furs and Cotton.
Data on Prepared Consumer Foods (PCF) trade is a subset of agri-food trade and it is divided into 15 categories.
The following table gives a breakdown of agri-food and PCF imports for 2018 and 2019. The figures have been updated in line with the latest available datasets.
Chapter 6 of the Annual Review and Outlook for Agriculture, Food and the Marine 2019 (https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/agri-foodindustry/agri-foodandtheeconomy/economicpublications/aro2019/) provides more detailed data on Ireland's agri-food and PCF trade.
