Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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1175. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 662 on 31 January 2017, if the authorities in China have now formally completed a review of the action plan submitted by officials here as part of efforts being made to persuade the authorities in China to lift these restrictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19521/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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On 18 April, following a constructive and engaging meeting my Chinese counterpart, Minister Zhi Shuping and I made a number of significant advances in the development of Irish exports of beef, seafood and thoroughbred horses to China.

One of the important points on which we reached agreement was on the proposed certificate to accompany consignments of crab exports and this agreement should facilitate the resumption of the crab trade between Ireland and China. China has become an extremely important market for Irish seafood and restoration of this trade is particularly important for Irish seafood exporters ahead of BREXIT.

The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) has been engaged with the Chinese authorities (AQSIQ) to achieve the necessary technical agreement on a methodology designed to resolve the issue of certification of live crab exports to China. This agreement is built around implementation of a national monitoring programme of live crab intended for export to China. The SFPA will implement the monitoring programme and certification will be built upon these criteria.

As heretofore the Chinese authorities will continue to monitor consignments arriving in China and the SFPA will liaise with Irish industry to apprise seafood exporters of specific requirements to recommence live crab trade with China.