Boel defends live export trade
Before her appointment, Boel was seen as an opponent of live exports, having once broken down and cried as she watched a film showing animals suffering during transport.
But she emerged at last week’s Farm Mnisters Council in Luxembourg as a staunch defender of the trade, even rejecting calls from her own country, Denmark, for the elimination of export subsidies on cattle.
Danish agriculture minister Hans Christian Schmidt led demands for the complete removal of refunds on animals intended for slaughter in the Lebanon and Egypt, describing them as a misuse of EU funds which undermine animal welfare.
He was supported by the Ministers from Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Luxembourg, with most saying it would be better to export meat rather than live animals.
On the other side of the debate, Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan was backed up by colleagues from Spain, Hungary, Ireland, France and Poland. They insisted that EU rules were sufficient to guarantee the welfare of live animals during transport, and said it was better for the EU to supply live cattle to markets in the Middle East rather than leave this trade to countries that were further away and had lower animal welfare standards.
IFA National Livestock Chairman John Bryan has welcomed the strong defence of the live export trade by Minister Coughlan.
He said she clearly recognises the importance of maintaining a strong and vibrant live export trade for Irish agriculture. “Live exports are essential in terms of cattle price competition and market outlets”. He said attempts by Compassion In World Farming to close down the live trade, by requesting the removal of export refunds on live cattle exports to third countries, failed, and were rejected by the EU Farm Council meeting.
The IFA livestock leader said the live export trade out of Ireland operates to the highest international standards of animal welfare and is heavily regulated and supervised by veterinarians from the Department of Agriculture.
