Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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497. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the actions he has taken to open up and secure the potential of the live export market for Irish cattle to the UK; if, together with Bord Bia, he will take a more active role in this process; if he will meet UK retailers and UK and Irish meat processors to highlight the potential benefits of developing this trade on both sides of the Irish Sea; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6470/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The live export trade has a dual role in stimulating price competition for domestic cattle while satisfying a real demand for suitable Irish cattle in overseas markets. My Department and Bord Bia remain fully committed to facilitating this trade so that producers can secure the best possible returns for Irish beef and live exports.

However, the potential to grow the live trade to Britain is constrained by the labelling systems operated by the retail multiples that are the main outlet for high-quality Irish beef products in the British markets, the interaction of overlapping labelling rules relating to the mandatory labelling system for all beef marketed in the EU, and the eligibility requirements governing the UK food quality assurance scheme known as the Red Tractor.

Harmonised EU rules require mandatory traceability and origin labelling for beef from slaughterhouse to point of sale to consumers with the objective of providing maximum transparency for the marketing of beef. Compulsory beef labelling requires food business operators to label fresh, frozen or minced beef with specific information to enable the product to be traced back to the animals from which it was derived and must include details of the slaughterhouse and de-boning hall in which the animal was processed as well as the country in which it was born and reared.

The mandatory labelling rules prevent final retailers from describing any beef products derived from animals born in Ireland but exported live for finishing and processing in Britain as either British or Irish. Labelling of such product has to state the country of birth as Ireland, the country of rearing as Ireland and the country of slaughter as the United Kingdom. As the Irish-born / UK-finished proposition is regarded as difficult to communicate to consumers and likely to cause unnecessary labelling complications, retailers prefer to market British and Irish beef separately as part of their product mix. This effectively means as a matter of policy UK retailers prefer beef to be sourced from animals originating in one country only.

In addition, logistical difficulties arise when a small number of Irish-born animals are slaughtered in a UK meat plant. These carcasses have to be deboned in a separate batch, packaged and labelled accordingly, thereby incurring additional costs for the processor.

Bord Bia actively supports the development of the live export trade through the provision of market information, developing market access and promotional activity. Although Bord Bia has repeatedly raised the labelling issue in discussions with the British retail sector, the multiples are unlikely to change their stance as they seek to shorten their supply chains in the wake of the equine DNA issue. Nevertheless, Bord Bia will continue to pursue all opportunities to maximise the value and volume of our beef and livestock exports to the UK.