250 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the proposals he has to mount a major initiative to reopen lost markets, expand the live cattle trade and improve export refunds and price supports at EU level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20247/02]
It is my policy and that of the Government to ensure that Irish livestock or beef exporters have unrestricted access to world markets. Intensive efforts are being made by me and my Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Bord Bia to achieve this objective. It has been my experience that where restrictions on Irish exports of cattle or 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.
As an example, my Department with the assistance of Bord Bia hosted a conference in Dublin in mid-October 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 was attended by veterinary and food safety experts from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Indications are that the conference was very successful and that delegations were very impressed with the information and demonstrations they received regarding the safety of Irish beef. I would hope that this would ultimately lead to the reopening of these markets. We are also in contact with the authorities in South Africa, the Philippines and Indonesia with a view to having those markets reopened to Irish beef.
