Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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1889. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on PGI status for the beef sector; when this process is expected to conclude; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19955/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that, In November 2020, the Department lodged the application for Irish Grass Fed Beef with the EU Commission. At that time, I wrote to the European Commission advising that Ireland would support an extension of this application to cover the island of Ireland when a grass-fed verification system is in place in Northern Ireland.

Since August 2020, my Department and Bord Bia teams and their Northern Ireland counterparts have engaged on an ongoing basis on the technical aspects of assisting NI to develop a verified grass fed standard and on matters related to the PGI specification.

In May 2021, the European Commission responded to our application with technical queries but also  indicated that it would be possible for Northern Ireland to make a submission as part of the EU/third country ‘opposition procedure’ to request that the geographical area be extended to include the whole island of Ireland. The Commission has indicated that this process should be viewed as an ‘amicable procedure’.

On 8th December 2021, following the scrutiny of the application by the European Commission, the application for a PGI for “Irish Grass Fed Beef” was published by the Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union for the three month so called ‘opposition procedure’ which was open both to EU Member States and third countries to make submissions on the application. The opposition concluded on 8^thMarch 2022. 

My Department has been advised that a submission has been made by the UK to the EU during the opposition period.

The next stage is that my Department and Bord Bia will engage in consultations with their counterparts in Northern Ireland to discuss the submission made by the UK and taking into account the PGI regulatory requirements.  The European Commission will be notified of the outcome of those consultations and at that stage we will be advised by the Commission on the next steps. 

I am excited about seeing the Irish Grass Fed Beef  PGI standard come to fruition as I believe it can benefit our farm families across the island.