Written answers

Tuesday, 2 October 2018

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Trade Missions

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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487. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to have a food-related trade mission to India. [39738/18]

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The pursuit and development of new markets for Irish agri-food exports is an ongoing and central component of the strategic development of the agri-food sector, as evidenced by its placement right at the centre of Food Wise 2025, the industry’s strategy for development over the coming decade. Food Wise 2025 outlines the huge potential for growth in agri-food exports to new and emerging markets, particularly in Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Gulf region. This is where our efforts will be focused for the foreseeable future, particularly given the need to diversify our markets and to reduce our reliance on traditional destinations such as the UK.

Trade missions have become an integral part of this strategy, and the selection of the destination of each mission is only agreed upon after a rigorous process which takes into account varying factors, such as the existing and potential market penetration for Irish produce within the country, and whether any market access issues could potentially be resolved during the mission.

To assist my Department in this area, Bord Bia carried out a market prioritisation exercise in 2017. It identified opportunities in new and more mature markets, and has provided valuable market intelligence both for industry operators and policy makers. It has already helped in the choice of destinations for my most recent trade missions to the US, Canada and China, and the next one to Indonesia and Malaysia at the end of October 2018.

At the moment I do not have any immediate plans to lead a trade mission to India but my Department will continue to seek out and identify new markets and I am ready to respond as appropriate to other opportunities that may arise.

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