This week alone, some 6,000 cattle are expected to set sail from Ireland with one boat destined for Turkey and another heading for Libya. The Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed this week revealed in the Dáil some of the other markets Ireland has approval for shipping cattle to.

Minister Creed said that as well as EU States, Ireland has clearance to ship cattle to “Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Montenegro, Serbia and Algeria and most recently Turkey”.

In order to be able to export cattle, a veterinary cert must be earned. As well as achieving access to Algeria, Turkey, Egypt and Algeria this year, Minister Creed said the Department of Agriculture is working on another market.

“My Department is currently investigating the possibility of bilateral health certificates for the export of live cattle to Kazakhstan. I recently led a successful trade mission to Morocco and Algeria, with a strong focus on live cattle exports among other things,” he said.

Minister Creed that while his Department helps open new markets, getting cattle into those markets “is a commercial matter for the live export sector, and demand is determined by the usual variables, including the cost of animals at marts, domestic demand for live cattle, the relative cost of beef at home and in foreign markets, currency exchange rates, transport costs and other factors.”

Minister Creed was responding to a parliamentary question from former Agriculture Minister and Cavan Monaghan TD Brendan Smith.

Countries Ireland has access to for live catle exports.

Tough year on exports

Aside from the positivity from the opening of the Turkey market, live exports have struggled this year.

As revealed in this week’s Irish Farmers Journal, exports of finished cattle stand at 20,059, down from 43,179 head this time last year. The difference is 23,120 head or 53%, with exports of cattle to NI for direct slaughter down 15,716 to 9,983 head.

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