Irish exports to Russia down 80% as import ban extends
The Russian Federation imposed the ban last August in response to penalties imposed by the US and the EU over its actions supporting a proxy war in Ukraine.
Mr Coveney told the Dáil in reply to Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris that there are difficult geopolitical tensions at play, and that a negative impact on the EU’s agri-food sector is an unfortunate consequence.
There is a clear need for an EU-wide response and the European Commission’s market support measures to date are welcome and remain a key part of the solution for EU producers.
Irish agri-food exports to Russia declined from €213m in 2013 to €145m last year.
Some of this reduction was accounted for by a ban on EU pigmeat imports, imposed in January 2014.
Mr Coveney said exports will obviously be much lower this year as the later ban will be in place for the full year, with dairy, fish and pigmeat being the main sectors affected.
For the first four months of 2015, Irish agri-food exports to Russia amounted to €15.3m, an 80% reduction on the same period last year.
“Ireland is committed to continuing to work in partnership with the Russian and EU authorities to help resolve these issues in any way we can,” Mr Coveney.
“I have met with the Russian ambassador to Ireland and there have been two high-level meetings between my department and the Russian authorities.
“And my department continues to work with industry to source new and alternative markets internationally for Irish food.
“The announcements by the US and China on Irish beef earlier this year are proof of the success of these efforts.”
Mr Coveney pointed out that Irish agri-food exports to all non-EU markets had increased to a record €3.1bn in 2014, an increase of 15% over 2013, with particularly strong growth in exports to Asia (+36%) and the Gulf States (+39%).
“These new markets, with growing middle class populations and high disposable incomes, will provide significant growth opportunities for Ireland’s dairy, meat and seafood sectors,” he said.
