Vol. 554 No. 5
312 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the action he has taken since his appointment in 1997 to open semi-core third country markets; the measures which he intends to take over the coming weeks in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16188/02]
It is my policy and that of the Government to ensure that Irish beef exporters have unrestricted access to whatever markets with which they wish to trade. All markets are important to our exporters in so far as having the maximum number of outlets for our products throughout the world can only be positive for the sector as a whole. Intensive efforts at diplomatic, political and technical levels are made by my Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and An Bord Bia to bring about this objective.
It has been my experience that where restrictions on Irish exports of beef exist because of concerns about BSE, the most effective way of addressing this has been to underpin political and diplomatic contacts by demonstrating in practice to the relevant experts from those countries the controls throughout the sector. This approach was adopted successfully in relation to Russia and Egypt and is being continued with regard to a number of other potentially significant markets.
My Department, with the assistance of An Bord Bia, is this week hosting a conference in Dublin on food safety and consumer protection in the beef sector aimed specifically at important markets in the Gulf region and I am pleased that the conference is being attended by veterinary and food safety experts from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
We are also in contact with the South African, Philippines and Indonesian authorities with a view to having those markets reopened to Irish beef.
