Vol. 539 No. 1
183 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the extent to which export markets have re-opened for Irish meat products in recent times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19007/01]
It is the policy of this Government that every export market should be open to Irish beef and no effort is being spared by my Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and An Bord Bia to bring this about. Each of our important export markets is being dealt with in whatever way is most appropriate to the circumstances prevailing in that market. The strategy to be adopted in each case is kept under constant review by my Department having regard to advice from our embassies on the ground and from An Bord Bia.
Egypt is our largest market for beef and much of our effort in recovering export markets has been focused on Egypt. I and senior officials of my Department travelled to Egypt last December and met with the Egyptian authorities in Cairo in an effort to secure restoration of this market for Irish beef. The Taoiseach also spoke with Egyptian President Mubarak on this matter. Further visits to Egypt were undertaken by officials of my Department this year and I also took the opportunity last month to raise the matter with a visiting Egyptian ministerial delegation. Another important market is Saudi Arabia and a senior veterinary official of my Department travelled last January to Riyadh to brief the authorities there on our BSE controls. In fact, senior officials of my Department are in Egypt and the Gulf region this week following up on earlier contacts with the relevant authorities there with a view to the restoration of these important markets.
Arising out of ongoing contacts between my Department and the Egyptian authorities, it has been agreed that a delegation of Egyptian veterinary officials will travel to Ireland in early August. I remain hopeful that following that the market can be re-opened.
I am satisfied that the Egyptian and Saudi authorities have a full appreciation of the low level of BSE in Ireland, the way in which it is dealt with and the effectiveness of the many layers of controls and checks that are in place. However, in many of our non-EU markets, and Egypt is a good example, the situation has been exacerbated by adverse public opinion as a result of sensationalised media reporting on BSE and, in particular, on the BSE developments in those EU countries which encountered their first cases last year.
The situation with regard to Russia is that the authorities there have lifted the total ban on Irish beef imposed following the single outbreak of FMD in Ireland last March. The earlier Russian ban on six named counties remains in place. My Department is now finalising details of the veterinary certificate required by the Russian authorities with a view to the early resumption of this trade.
