Minister ‘must ensure no further concessions’
Padraig Gibbons, president of the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS), said the agreement to end all forms of export subsidies by the end of 2013 would present a serious challenge to Irish agriculture.
He said Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan must ensure that agriculture is not sacrificed by the EU to get progress on industrial and service access to developing markets. She must also ensure that EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel delivers on her weekend statement that “there would be no changes to the CAP before the end of 2013”.
The ICOS leader said there was a need for an intensive lobby campaign to ensure that there were no further concessions on market access or supports within the EU for agriculture. Otherwise, there is a strong risk of another reform of the CAP before 2013.
Meat Industry Ireland (MII), representing processors, said it was deeply concerned by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement to eliminate export subsidies by the end of 2013.
But the immediate concern is that successive cuts in the beef export refund levels by the EU Commission over recent months have already seriously undermined the competitiveness of Irish beef on international markets.
MII spokesman Cormac Healy said the EU was already de facto implementing WTO 2013. In the last six months, it has cut beef export refunds by almost 30%.
Unless there is some reversal of these cuts in the immediate future, Irish beef will remain uncompetitive on international markets, he said.
“Our ability to maintain important trade channels to markets in Russia and North Africa has already been greatly compromised by recent refund cuts.”
Mr Healy said MII recognised that, in the context of difficult negotiations and severe pressure from others to eliminate export subsidies by 2010, Ms Coughlan and EU negotiators had secured the best deal possible by extending the end-date to 2013.
“What is now vital is that Minister Coughlan ensures that the EU Commission operates the export refund regime in a manner that facilitates exports over the phase-out period,” he said.
Mr Healy said the Government must present a strong defence of the Irish beef sector in the WTO market access negotiations in the new year.
“Uncontrolled growth in the volume of beef imports from South America to the EU market presents the greatest threat to the future of Irish beef production and processing sector,” he said.
