Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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239. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the original value his Department put on beef export targets to the US for 2015; the actual value realised; his 2016 beef export targets in value terms; when Irish manufacturing beef will be permitted to enter the market in the US. [16566/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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My Department’s role in relation to market access is to ensure that Ireland’s control systems meet the veterinary and animal health requirements of the importing country. Ultimately the volume and value of trade depends on relative commodity prices, global supply, currency exchange rates trade and other factors. US consumption of beef is estimated at 11 million tonnes, approximately 1 million of which is imported. The potential prize for Irish operators is therefore, subject to the variables already outlined, very significant, particularly in circumstances where grass fed hormone free beef is gaining traction in the market place. Ireland received a major reputational boost in 2015 as the first EU Member State to gain access to the US market for beef. This was opened to Irish exports in January 2015 and six plants are approved to export. As with any new market, it takes time to build reputational brand and a customer base, and the real time to assess its value is when these are bedded down.

In volume terms, by the end of December 2015 the figures for exports of beef from Ireland to the US had risen to an estimated 1,800 tonnes which would have an approximate value of €11.5 million. This represents an exceptionally strong start to this trade considering that the first exports only went in March 2015 and some of the plants were only approved for export in September.

In Quarter 1 of 2016 approximately 700 tonnes with a value of €6 million are estimated to have been exported to the USA, continuing the positive trends from last year. The trade is currently confined to the market for intact cuts, but we are currently seeking approval to export manufacturing beef/Beef Intended for Grinding (BIFG). My Department is engaging with the US authorities on a regular basis to extend the approval for beef in this way.

US beef prices have fallen back from the peaks recorded in the early part of 2015, and the relatively high prices available for beef in Europe in 2015 meant that US buyers may have been priced out of the market as Irish exporters chose to send product to more valuable markets in the UK and on the continent.

There has also been significant progress in facilitating trade in other international markets for Irish beef. My Department continues to push strongly for market access to other Third Countries and we are currently in the process of trying to secure beef access to other third countries including, inter alia, China, Korea, Israel, Ukraine and Vietnam. It is my intention to continue to focus on developing as many third country markets as possible in order to provide exporters as many commercial opportunities as possible in a competitive global marketplace.