Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 February 2022
149. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the changes in food exports from Ireland to the British market since Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6501/22]
View answerThe EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement of December 2020 provides for continued tariff-free trade between the United Kingdom and the European Union, which is critical to ensuring that Irish food exports to the UK remain competitive on that market. However, the UK Government's decision to exit the EU Customs Union and Single Market has created significant challenges for Irish exporters arising from the imposition by the UK, on a phased basis, of customs and sanitary and phytosanitary requirements on imports from the EU.
My Department, in close collaboration with Irish food businesses, is intensifying our preparations to meet these new UK requirements to ensure that we minimise any potential disruption to our exports to GB market. The preparations include the recruitment of additional staff, development of new and enhanced IT systems, training programmes, certification trials and extensive local engagement between the Department's veterinary supervision teams and individual food businesses to refine the business processes to support their exports to GB.
In terms of the profile of our export trade to the British market, based on the latest data, which covers the first eleven months of 2021, Irish agri-food exports to the UK have been quite resilient. The value of exports in this period was €5.3 billion, an increase of 10.6% compared to the same period in 2020.
