Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will be aware that the United States Department of Agriculture lifted the BSE rule on 1 November 2013. This ban on the importation of beef from the European Union had been in place since 1997 andits ending was one of the Minister's priorities during his visit to the US last year, where he pushed the matter with US Department of Agriculture Secretary of State Tom Vilsack and in meetings with Senators.

The publication of the new regulation is a critical first step in accessing the US market and the Department has been preparing for the event for some time, with officials working to address specific veterinary requirements demanded by the US. Last week, a senior Department official visited Washington and held high level meetings with USDA officials, with a view to advancingthe various technical requirements to ensure commencement of the trade at the earliest possible date.

It is important to stress that there are a number of stages to be completed before trade can commence. The first step is the completion by Ireland of a self-reporting tool, SRT, which was issued by the United States Department of Agriculture and Food Safety and Inspection Service, FSIS. This document, which runs to over 150 pages is a questionnaire for completion by the Central Competent Authority, CCA, which in Ireland's case is the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. It is, in effect, the FSIS tool used for assessing equivalence of foreign inspection systems. These criteria reflect the current policy application of the US import regulations and cover government oversight, statutory authority and food safety regulations, sanitation, hazard analysis and critical control point systems, HACCP, chemical residues and microbiological testing programmes. I am pleased to say that Ireland has now completed this stage of the operation and the document has been submitted to the US authorities. However, no product can be exported to the US until the USDA completes its analysis of the SRT and finalises the relevant certification arrangements for Ireland.

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The opening of this sought-after market provides further evidence of the Government's ongoing work to grow and develop the beef industry in accordance with the Food Harvest 2020 strategy. I am confident that this market will grow strongly as US consumers realise the superior quality of Irish grass fed beef and the Irish meat industry. Bord Bia is well placed to develop this niche market in the near future. It is important now that all interested parties work together to complete the various requirements to allow the trade to commence at the earliest opportunity.

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