Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed set the mood for the tenth meeting of the Beef Forum in Dublin this Wednesday when he opened the meeting with comments on “the strong performance of live exports, which are 43% ahead of last year, and the growing third country trade which has seen markets in Asia especially showing strong increases in the value of exports in the first quarter.”

Presentations from the Department of Agriculture and Bord Bia highlighted the strength of the markets in the first half of the year, with carcase weights going down, live exports up and the kill up 40,000 head compared with the same period last year.

Bord Bia’s outlook was positive for the rest of this year and Meat Industry Ireland agreed with that view.

Mercosur

As the European Commission pushes to progress trade talks with the Mercosur bloc of South American countries in the second half of this year, the IFA delegation insisted that beef should not be part of any upcoming European offer and reported that Minister Creed had committed to defend the same position at next weeks Council of European agriculture ministers.

John Downey of the Department’s Brexit and International Trade Division gave an update on preparations for Brexit talks and participants received updates on access to alternative markets, with the latest EU-Japan trade deal and fresh inspections by Chinese and South Korean officials expected soon.

Penalties

The ICSA and ICMSA also gave presentations, as did ICOS, which called for access to the Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) database to be revoked for factories that use it to penalise farmers selling animals after several farm-to-farm movements.

The IFA also brought up the issue of carcase trimming and grading, with the option of having Department assistant officers present at factories to monitor the process discussed at the last meeting of the forum. Discussions are on-going on this point.

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