The decisions to which I had referred included the decision by the Russian government to lift all restrictions on the six-county BSE ban, which was implemented following contacts between the Irish and Russian authorities and will substantially improve access to that market for Irish beef. In the current year I expect that exports of beef to that market will be of the order of 75,000 tonnes. Additionally, the European Commission decided to increase export refunds by up to 30% for Egypt following my representations to Commissioner Fischler. This new special high rate of export refund will make Irish beef more competitive on the Egyptian market and should help lead to the resumption of trade to a very important traditional market. Intensive efforts are ongoing with the Gulf region, the Philippines and Indonesia to have those markets re-opened to imports of Irish beef.