Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 301: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food his plans regarding specific initiatives to favour Irish and European agriculture in the context of the World Trade Organisation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43859/09]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The current position in regard to the WTO negotiations is that a Ministerial Conference of the WTO will take place in Geneva from 30 November to 2 December. The agenda will focus discussions on the current functioning of the WTO and its future. The themes of the working sessions are a review of WTO activities including the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and the contribution of the WTO to recovery, growth and development. Although political statements will be made at the plenary session on the prospects for conclusion of the DDA and while one of the working sessions includes the DDA in the list of WTO activities to be reviewed, the intention is not to engage in substantive negotiations on the trade round. There is in effect no real expectation amongst commentators that a deal can be concluded in 2010.

Several initiatives are underway to anticipate and prepare for the more competitive environment facing the agri-food sector in expectation of a WTO deal at some point in the future and to address other challenges facing the sector.

Strategies for the development of a consumer focused, competitive and sustainable agri-food sector capable of meeting the challenges of more liberalised markets and broader societal demands both at home and abroad are set out in the Agri-vision 2015 report and the Cawley Report. These strategies identify the delivery of safe, high quality, nutritious food, produced in a sustainable manner for high value markets as the optimum road for the future of the Irish food industry in the light of the changes which have already taken place or are anticipated over the next number of years. They span the entire food chain from primary production through processing to market access, which is key to developing export potential.

An inter-Departmental Market Access Group chaired by my Department and comprising representatives from the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Enterprise, Trade and Employment, An Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland and Bord Iascaigh Mhara is currently engaged in a co-ordinated effort to identify potential market opportunities for the full range of Irish food and beverages, prioritisation of market initiatives and broader access issues.

Bord Bia published a Strategy to boost food exports for the period 2009-2011. The strategy comprises six key priorities to be addressed including enhancing the industry's position on its home market to capitalise on the potential for growth and expansion of exports with a particular emphasis on the Eurozone markets. During 2009 Bord Bia has implemented a comprehensive set of promotional programmes and services, which have been developed in consultation with industry bearing in mind the impact of the sterling differential on competitiveness.