Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed, is leading a delegation in Turkey on Thursday 1 February as part of a trade mission aimed at driving increased live exports to the country.

Minister Creed was successful in opening the Turkish market for live exports in 2016, and hopes to build on the number of cattle that were exported last year.

”The export of 30,000 cattle last year represented around 6% of total cattle imports to this important market”, Minister Creed said.

“I hope that this visit will pave the way for a further increase in trade”.

Turkey currently has a deficit in national beef production, and the Turkish government has a policy to facilitate the import of approximately 500,000 live cattle to meet domestic beef demand.

The country became Ireland’s third largest export market in 2017, accounting for 16% of live exports and helped to improve the price competition in marts, particularly for young bulls.

The minister and the delegation, made up of Department of Agriculture and Bord Bia officials, as well as representatives from the Irish live cattle export companies, will attend the “International Agriculture and Livestock Exhibition”, an important agricultural event in Turkey, on the invitation of Turkish Minister for Agriculture, Ahmet Esref Fakibaba.

Minster Creed stated: “Turkish importers of Irish cattle have been very satisfied with both the quality of Irish quality that arrived into their country and also their subsequent performance in Turkish feedlots and farms."

“Animal welfare is obviously a key concern for any live export trade, and inspections by my Department ensure that animal welfare standards are strictly complied with during transport”.

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