Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Commissioner. I will preface my comments by saying that I am an active beef farmer as well as being a Member of the House. The opportunity for a trade agreement between Europe and the US offers significant potential. Europe and America are the two biggest economies in the world. To have a freer access to markets for European produce is what we should work for. Standards and regulations must be in harmony and this is the biggest challenge.

Is it the case that US beef already has access to some European markets? I have been led to believe by Bord Bia, our food marketing board, that US beef has access to markets such as Germany. They want bilateral agreements in order to export beef. Argentinian and US beef are corn-fed. Ireland competes with that beef but we are in a different niche market which is very similar to the market we have just established in America.

The IFA has raised this issue and the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, of which I am Chairman, produced a report last November, on land use policies. The Irish position on negotiations on carbon CO2 emissions and greenhouse gas emissions is that because we are producing agricultural produce we have relatively high emissions compared to Germany. Our 30% greenhouse gas emissions compares to Malta's 2% while the EU average is 10%. Until a standard calculation of how food is produced is agreed, we argue that we should not yield to allowing in food produce that is less efficiently produced.

This a global problem and not just a European or Irish one.