Taoiseach leads mission to China

A high-profile trade mission to China next week, which Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will lead, will be hugely beneficial to Ireland in relation to the food and drink sectors and will lay the basis for increased trade between the countries, according to Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan.

She will head a food and drink industry delegation as part of the wider January (17-22) trade mission. She will be accompanied by Tom Moran, secretary general, other officials of her Department and Bord Bia representatives.

Minister Coughlan will accompany the Taoiseach at meetings with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao and will also hold talks with the Chinese Minister of Agriculture and with the chairman of the Administration of Quality, Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), which is responsible for imports into China.

In these discussions, she said she will aim to conclude the terms of a Pigmeat Protocol, which would form the basis of regulating exports of Irish pigmeat to China.

Minister Coughlan will also address two seminars in Beijing and Shanghai, organised by her Department and An Bord Bia, aimed at promoting Irish food and drinks in the Chinese market.

Presentations at these seminars will be made by Department officials, Bord Bia, BIM and IBEC on the Irish food and drink sector, on the quality and safety controls in place and on its export capability.

The seminars will also provide an opportunity to the Department and An Bord Bia, together with industry representatives, to directly engage with Ministry and regulatory officials and with Chinese importers and traders.