Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 March 2014
8. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which he continues to use his influence within the European Union in the context of any EU-US trade discussions with a view to ensuring the future of the agrifood sector in this country and throughout Europe; if initial indications in this regard are reassuring in the context of the WTO; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13210/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis question relates to the need for vigilance in any negotiations between the EU and the US in the context of the World Trade Organisation, WTO, in the aftermath of the very successful deal on the agriculture sector in Europe which was worked out by the Minister during the Irish EU Presidency. There is a need to make provision to ensure that it is not eroded subsequently in any further negotiations.
It is one of the priorities of this Government to use our links at EU level to engage actively with the EU institutions and other member states to ensure that EU policies on bilateral and multilateral trade agreements do not place the Irish agri-food sector at a competitive disadvantage. Since I took office in 2011, I have proactively pursued this agenda, most recently at meetings of the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers in Brussels. At the February meeting of the Council, I asked the Greek Presidency to continue the practice of regular updates on the agricultural aspects of international trade negotiations. Since then there has been a good exchange at senior official level and last Monday there was a substantive discussion around the Council table on the current negotiations under way.
As a small trading nation, we depend on trade to drive our economy and have much to gain from free trade agreements. In that respect we have substantial offensive interests in the agreements being negotiated with the United States and also with Japan, Thailand and Vietnam. We have defensive interests too, related primarily to our beef sector. Our strategy is to push hard for agreements that balance these offensive interests with our defensive ones.
I know the Deputy has a particular interest in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, and the negotiations taking place between the European Union and the United States. We have much to gain from a transatlantic free trade agreement. We have an extraordinarily strong relationship with the US economy, due to the number of multinationals in this country. We also wish to be able to access its markets for food and drink and we are, I hope, close to accessing its markets for beef.
However, we have a defensive interest too. A huge amount of beef is produced in the United States and we must ensure a number of things happen. First and foremost, we must ensure that hormone free beef remains the food of European consumers. That is a point on which we will continue to insist, as well as limiting any quotas that might be offered to the United States in terms of accessing EU markets for beef.
I thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply. Will it be a priority of the Minister and his EU colleagues to ensure that the agrifood industry is not in any way disadvantaged to facilitate other areas of trade, for example, with regard to engineering, technology and so forth, or to improve the bargaining position of other sectors at the expense of the agri-food sector?
This is an ongoing issue. With regard to agrifood, we have offensive interests too. We want to access markets. We export 85% of all the agri-food and drink products we produce, so it is in Ireland's interest to have a platform for international trade that is as wide as possible. However, we have some concerns. Ireland is, effectively, the only large exporter of beef in the European Union. It is the biggest exporter of beef by miles. In fact, Ireland is the fourth largest beef exporter in the world, which is extraordinary for a small country. Irish beef is exported primarily to EU markets. If we allow beef into the EU from South America, Canada, the US and other parts of the world, there will be increased competition and that is a worry for the beef sector. We are seeking to limit that as much as we can. We tried to do it in the agreement with Canada, which has now been concluded. We successfully and very significantly reduced the beef quota that was originally on offer and we will try to do the same with Mercosur and the United States.
We have a very competitive and good beef industry but we are anxious to ensure there is no unfair competition in terms of the standards by which beef is produced outside the European Union, particularly with regard to hormone usage. We will be insistent on that and, so far, the Commission has been very supportive of the Irish position in that regard.
I again thank the Minister. I have a further question regarding husbandry, production, management, traceability and hygiene. We can rely on procedures in that regard being enforced in the EU.
Will the same standards that apply here and in the European Union be applied to imports?
This is the level playing field question, which is a fair one to ask. We require farmers in the European Union to produce food under very tight regulation. As a result, we also pay them for that through the CAP in the form of direct payments. That is the deal. European farmers have to produce food to a very high standard in terms of traceability, husbandry, controls, inspection and so on and taxpayers have to pay for that. However, we also need to ensure that if we are importing food from other parts of the world that we insist on the same standards in order to protect consumers. That is what they demand and that should be central to our negotiations concerning food, which is very different from other products such as cars, services and so on. When one is dealing with food, one is dealing with issues such as food safety, animal husbandry, genetic modification, hormone usage and so on. In Ireland we have always insisted on a level playing field. We think that our industry can compete with anyone in the world, as long as the same standards apply here as elsewhere. That is very much part of the negotiations.
