Bernard J. Durkan
Ceist:108 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his plans to expand beef exports to locations within the EU and elsewhere; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20991/02]
Written Answers. - Export Markets.
It is Government policy to ensure that Irish exporters have unrestricted access to markets worldwide and efforts at diplomatic, political and technical levels have been made and continue to be made by my Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Bord Bia to bring this about. Following the BSE crisis late in 2000, many third country markets imposed bans on imports of European beef. 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 pressure 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 Bord Bia, recently hosted a conference in Dublin on food safety and consumer protection in the beef sector aimed specifically at important markets in the Gulf region. The conference, which was attended by veterinary and food safety experts from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, afforded the visiting experts from those Gulf states the opportunity to assess the level and effectiveness of Ireland's BSE controls and I am pleased to say that reaction to the conference has been very positive. We are also in ongoing contact with the South African, Philippines and Indonesian authorities at technical and diplomatic level with a view to having those markets reopened to Irish beef.
The UK continues to be our most important market for beef, with some 150,000 tonnes of Irish beef exported there in the first nine months of this year, and it is estimated that this figure will rise close to 250,000 tonnes for the full year 2002. This compares very favourably with exports to the UK in 2001, which totalled some 210,000 tonnes. The corresponding figures for 2000 and 1999 are 110,000 tonnes and 95,000 tonnes. The main contributor to the dramatic increase in exports to the UK over the past two years has been the reduced domestic supplies of UK beef due to the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001.
Bernard J. Durkan
Ceist:109 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his plans to expand the market for Irish lamb within and outside the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20992/02]
Bord Bia, which has responsibility for the promotion and marketing of lamb, continues to help the industry to seek new markets and endeavours on an ongoing basis to maximise returns from existing markets. About two thirds of Irish lamb is exported, with a large proportion going to the French market. Spain, Italy and Portugal are the principal markets for light lamb from Ireland. Irish lamb is also exported to Germany, Belgium and the UK and small quantities go to the Scandinavian countries. The quantity of Irish lamb sold outside the EU is very small due to the fact that the EU is deficient in lamb and hence export refunds are not payable, which makes third country exports uneconomic under current market conditions. Bord Bia has been carrying out promotional campaigns in France this year, part of which entails identifying Irish lamb as such. These campaigns are targeted at regional level for maximum effect. In addition to these promotional activities, Bord Bia engages in trade liaison, trade marketing and in-store promotions with retailers of Irish lamb.
The market for light Irish lamb in the Mediterranean markets has been mixed in recent years. This is likely to continue, which means that the main focus of Bord Bia's activities will be to maintain existing markets and where possible to build new ones. The German market has remained consistent and the Belgian market is important for early lamb. Bord Bia will continue to support and assist in the development of these markets.
Question No. 110 answered with Question No. 106.