Processors unhappy with decoupling
However, Bord Bia said the decision will lead to improved market transparency, clearer signals to producers and the opportunity for the Irish beef industry to build on its strengths in the European marketplace.
Cormac Healy, the spokesman for the Irish Meat Association, said that having played a central role in negotiating partial decoupling options into the final CAP reform package, the Irish Government should have followed through with a phased introduction of decoupling.
Mr Healy said all studies and analyses of full decoupling point to a disproportionate fall in beef and lamb production in Ireland compared with other EU states.
“The processing industry is particularly concerned that the fall in production in Ireland will be concentrated in the suckler herd which has been the platform for quality beef production in this country,” he said.
Bord Bia chairman Philip Lynch said the decoupling decision means the future of the Irish meat industry will now be determined by its capacity to enhance market place performance.
Mr Lynch said Irish beef exports to continental EU markets are set to increase by more than 25% this year and further growth is in prospect from 2004 on.
“In Britain, our largest market, the industry has developed a strong track record in meeting the demanding requirements of the multiple retail sector. The improvement in demand provides opportunities for the Irish beef industry to build a differentiated position in key markets and to enhance returns.”
Teagasc director Jim Flanagan said the decoupling decision will lead to a settled policy environment from January 1, 2005.
IFA president John Dillon said full decoupling would eliminate much of the bureaucracy that has plagued livestock farmers and distorted the beef sector.
ICMSA leader Pat O’Rourke warned the incomes of dairy farmers will fall by 30% and there will be a transfer of €100 million income annually from calf and young cattle producers, mainly in the West.
Joe Kilmartin, vice-president, ICSA, said farmers can look forward to a future free from red tape and bureaucracy with the freedom to farm for the market not the subsidy.
