Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I advise the Deputy that they have not been held up by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The approval of permits for the export of beef to China is a matter for the Chinese authorities. We prosecute all applications on their behalf with the Chinese authorities. I will visit China again later this year as part of a trade delegation when I hope to progress these matters. I will also seek to do so in the interim. The Chinese market is significant. For dairy and pork products, China is our second biggest market after the United Kingdom. The same could possibly happen for beef. We attach a lot of significance to securing the maximum facilitation of trade, but with that trade comes terms and conditions. In many respects, we are takers. For example, if China determines that it will not take cattle under 30 months and that it does not want cattle that have spent the last period of their lives - 70 days - on one holding, or if international customers determine that they do not want cattle that have been subject to more than four movements, these are all conditions with which we, as an exporter, will have to comply. Obviously, we try to make progress to secure the maximum facilitation of trade and the least number of restrictions and the least amount of red tape, but competent authorities, the markets and retail partners determine the specifications.

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