Mr. David Nolan:

I deal with the issue of certification. A question was asked about what changes we are looking for in certificates. We tried to increase the age limits on the certificates. We look at the weight limits and we have tried to have those increased as well. We also look at limiting the quarantine or holding period that has to apply in Ireland. We have also removed testing requirements for diseases from which Ireland is free. We have to remember that the negotiations for certification is customer driven and customers tell us what they want. Sometimes what we would like to achieve is not obtainable. With that in mind, we have had some successes in certain markets in particular. We have agreed a new certificate with Libya for breeding animals, which has been separated from slaughtered animals. That was a combined certificate previously and it was proving very difficult. Again, we got the age increased in the new certificate and we had many diseases on the old certificate removed. Thankfully, that was agreed in November 2018.

We had also has some success in Qatar with which we have agreed a new certificate for sheep. This makes it easier to supply sheep to the Qatar market. The changes are primarily related to disease conditions. We have had some level of success with Kazakhstan, although the process is not yet complete. There is an agreed EU certificate for that part of the world. We have just sent a new certificate for a disease called Schmallenberg virus and we await a response from the authorities in Kazakhstan. We have political agreement from Egypt for the certificate but it has still not been signed off at official level. We expect that to be done shortly.

A great many changes have been made to the old certificate. The main reason for the changes is to ensure the exporters can draw from a larger cohort of animals, making them more competitive in the market. After all, this ultimately comes down to price and if one is not competitive in certain markets, one will not operate in them.

We have had a great deal of interaction with Algeria. It needs to be borne in mind that if we engage with these foreign countries, we make proposals that suit the trade. We try to align conditions in our certificates with the certificates they have with other member states, for instance, so that there is a level playing pitch. That is our goal, but sometimes other countries do not come back to us on it. We intend sending a technical mission to Algeria this year, with a view to examining and agreeing the wording in the certificate.

It remains to be seen whether we are successful. I have given members a flavour of the work that is being done, which is ongoing. It is time-consuming but I am an optimist and I would say we will get more favourable certificates for Irish exports going forward.