Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 July 2018
556. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the efforts his Department have made to develop meat access to Qatar; when trade will commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31848/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has recently agreed a Veterinary Health Certificate for the export of beef, sheepmeat and poultry to Qatar. The certificates apply for meat and meat products. This agreement is a result of a joined-up effort between my Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in particular the Embassy in the United Arab Emirates, also accredited to Qatar.
Qatar offers excellent opportunities for Irish food producers, and Ireland already has some established trade links with Qatar; Irish agri-food exports to Qatar amounted to €8.8 million in 2017 of which around 70% is accounted for by dairy exports. Meat consumption overall estimated to be high compared to global averages, and lamb accounts for around one-third of meat consumption in Qatar.
I cannot say when trade will actually commence. The role of my Department is to facilitate access to international markets, and it is then up to the industry to avail of this opportunity.
New market access is a high priority for my Department in line with the 7 Point Action Plan developed on market access last year. We will continue to work to open up new markets and to diversify the number of markets to which we can export in line with the market diversification theme of Foodwise 2025 and as a response to some of the challenges posed by Brexit.
I recently launched an online international market access information portal which provides information across some of the major agri-food export sectors of dairy, meat, seafood and live animals. The information provided includes certification arrangements, exporter terms and conditions, individual country trading statistics and the typical products exported to individual markets. This portal is a very valuable tool for our producers and exporters. As new markets are opened or certification conditions are changed, this will of course be reflected by the necessary changes to the web portal. The portal can be accessed at http://www.marketaccess.agriculture.gov.ie/
