Written answers

Thursday, 14 July 2016

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Beef Exports

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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239. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of his Department’s efforts in gaining market access for Irish beef in the United States of America; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21916/16]

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I was delighted to announce last week the decision of the US authorities to extend their approval for Irish beef to include manufacturing beef/beef intended for grinding (BIFG). This marks the culmination of over a year of intensive work between my Department and its US counterparts on a range of technical matters.

The new US decision paves the way for industry to undertake the steps necessary to trade to commence. In relation to market access for the USA, Ireland had initially received a major reputational boost in 2015 as the first EU Member State to gain access to the US market for beef and six plants are currently approved to export. By the end of December 2015 approximately 1,800 tonnes of beef, with an estimated value of €14 million, had been exported from Ireland to the US. 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. That amount looks likely to be surpassed in 2016, as by the end of June, almost 1,200 tonnes had been exported.

The recent announcement by the US on our enhanced access is a huge endorsement of Irish beef and our production and regulatory systems. Ultimately the volume and value of trade will depend on a range of factors such as currency exchange rates, relative commodity prices and global supply and demand patterns. However, this recent extension of our access in the US has the capability to be a significant boost to the sector over a period of time.

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.

It complements the other market outlets we have secured in the last two years, the development of which is a key element of our Food Wise 2025 strategy. 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 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 market place.

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