Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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559. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will report on his recent trade mission to China and South Korea. [36671/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Earlier this month, together with Minister of State Heydon I led a Trade Mission to China and the Republic of Korea, supported by officials from my Department, Bord Bia and Enterprise Ireland. China and Korea are priority markets for growth and market diversification of Irish agri-food exports. Following on from my recent announcement that Ireland had secured access for Irish beef to the Korean market, this created an ideal opportunity for focused and targeted food promotion.

Trade missions such as these also enable us to engage politically at Government-to-Government level. In this case, our objectives were to progress our applications to further expand our market access in both countries. In China, I met with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to discuss areas of mutual interest, and with the Minister of the General Administration of Customs (GACC) which deal with market access, to discuss advancing market access on bone-in beef, beef offal and germinal products.

In Korea I met with the Vice Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) to thank him for his Ministry's assistance in finalising our beef access and to discuss potential for further beef plants to be audited for export and the next steps to gain poultry access. My officials also held a technical meeting with their counterparts in the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) to discuss similar matters.

In relation to the commercial element in both countries, there was a focus on meat, dairy, seafood and beverages. Minister Heydon and I met with a range of key Chinese and Korean commercial players alongside Irish suppliers to raise awareness of the quality and sustainability of Irish produce as we seek to diversify our exports. A highlight of the Korean leg of the trade mission was the official launch of Irish beef into the Korea market.

This trade mission was successful in highlighting that the Irish agri-food sector is a global leader as a source of high quality, safe and sustainable food and drink products.