Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 June 2020
469. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the breakdown of the €3.6 billion of imports of prepared consumer foods referred to in the trade factsheet on page 11 of the 2018 annual report of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9944/20]
View answerData on agri-food sector trade is broken down into 26 categories identified and agreed by my Department and the Central Statistics Office (CSO). Products and Raw Goods are categorised using combined nomenclature (CN) codes, a European harmonised system used to classify goods for customs and trade reasons. These categories include non-edible agri-food items such as Forestry and Animal Hides and Skins, along with traditional food and beverage products.
Prepared Consumer Foods (PCF), a subset of agri-food, are value-added food and beverage products, excluding alcohol beverages, which sell both domestically and internationally to retail, food service or other food companies. These goods are categorised into 15 areas identified and agreed by industry stakeholders, my Department and the CSO.
The PCF sector accounted for over €2.6 billion in agri-food sector exports in 2018, and €3.6 billion in imports. PCF exports in 2019 were €2.7 billion, while imports totalled nearly €3.8 billion.
The table attached below gives a breakdown of PCF exports and imports for 2018 and 2019. The figures have been updated in line with the latest available datasets.
Chapter 6 of my Department's 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.
