Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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155. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which he and his Department continue to prepare for the worst case scenario in respect of Brexit with particular reference to the establishment of new markets and or EU access to the United Kingdom market for food and food products; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41712/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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My Department is working through whole of Government structures, with other Departments, to prepare contingency plans for Brexit. From an agri food perspective, this will include arrangements and resources to provide any necessary export certification for animals, plants, and products of animal and plant origin destined for the UK, and to facilitate transit arrangements through the UK to the rest of the EU. These plans are at an advanced stage.

The pursuit and development of new markets for Irish agri-food exports is of course 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. Indeed, this is all the more relevant after the UK’s decision to leave the EU, which presents significant new challenges for the agri-food sector in particular. 

In terms of the European dimension to our response, additional funding that I have provided to Bord Bia has been used to support market diversification efforts by companies through its Market Prioritisation Programme, which was launched in late October 2016, and to support promotional campaigns for Irish beef in Germany and the Netherlands.

In addition, Bord Bia has been providing information to companies on how to establish a presence in other EU countries, and using its network of offices to build long-term relationships in those markets, including through participation in trade fairs. It has also recently opened a new office in Warsaw to expand its support in Eastern Europe, and in Singapore to service eight emerging markets in South East Asia.

Looking beyond Europe, 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 play an important role in this regard, and I have been very active on this front in recent years as we strive to gain, and then develop, a presence in as many global markets as possible. I have led very successful missions to the Gulf Region, the US, Mexico, Japan and Korea in 2017, and to the US, Canada and China so far in 2018, with a further mission planned to Indonesia and Malaysia at the end of October. As normal, this latter mission will again include participants from across the agri-food sector and will feature extensive trade contacts as well as high-level political discussions.  

These and the other missions that my Department are planning for the first half of 2019 will serve to enhance and improve our existing levels of market access in these destinations. The destinations are also in keeping with the recent market prioritisation exercise that was completed by Bord Bia at my request. This exercise identified opportunities in new and more mature markets, and will provide valuable market intelligence both for industry operators and policy makers.

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.