Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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141. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has assessed the risk of the Irish ban on hormone-treated beef being undermined by the transatlantic trade and investment partnership agreement; and his views on the quality of food standards in view of the negotiations on the agreement. [6679/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am very supportive of the negotiations for a trade and investment agreement between the EU and the United States. An agreement between the world's two major trading blocs has the potential to enhance growth and increase jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. Of course we also have some red lines in these negotiations. One of these relates to the EU ban on the use of hormones in meat production. In this regard, I have received repeated assurances from the EU Commission that the EU ban on the import of hormone treated meat will not change.

As to the wider issue of food standards in general, the key issue for me is that the principle of equivalence will continue to apply so that even where production processes in the EU and US are not identical they will provide equivalent guarantees regarding the standards of production. This principle is already enshrined under the World Trade Organisation Agreement and I am pleased to report that it is already recognised by both sides in the EU US negotiations as the basis for the TTIP agreement. Equally it is important that both the EU and United States retain the policy space to restrict certain practices and processes on social and ethical grounds.

We are at a relatively early stage in these negotiations but I am confident that there is sufficient determination and good will on both sides of the Atlantic to secure an agreement that will be good for Europe and good for the United States.