Mr. Martin Blake:

There are difficulties with historical and legacy issues. That does not make our job any easier. If they have access to the USA and we want to get access, we have to meet the requirements of the USA at this point in time. Deputy Cahill mentioned the flock identifier. The benefit is that we will capture the individual animal identifier. We will be able to use those data at individual animal level, which will take us a step further and allow us to enter into more refined traceability systems and targeting. There will be trace-back on medicines' usage, animal residues and issues like that. Once we have the individual identification, we can refine and target our resources in that regard.

Much of the conversation we have been having has focused on international trade and market access. We must also be mindful of satisfying our customers at home, which I also mentioned in my opening statement. We have our own food safety issues in the context of what we are doing. We have had difficulties with trace-back and what is happening in Ireland, which is of interest to our domestic market as well as our international market. We have found that the current system does not work, which is part of the rationale for change. The new system will give us a greater handle on that and allow us to deploy resources in a better way. It is not just about market access, it is about improving controls and enabling us to better deploy resources when dealing with traceability issues, be it from an animal health or a food safety perspective at home.