Brexit represents the biggest challenge which Irish agriculture has faced since the foundation of the state, according to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed.

He made this statement while addressing the IFA Brexit conference today.

“Agriculture is part of the economic, social and cultural fabric of Irish society. Our family farm structure ensures that Ireland produces food of the highest quality while, at the same time, ensuring that environmental protection and conservation measures are prioritised,” he explained.

Creed confirmed that Ireland will negotiate its Brexit priorities as part of the EU-27.

“The reality is that a bad Brexit deal will impact poorly right across Europe,” he said.

Creed said that a seven-point plan to increase international market access for Irish food and drink exports has been put in place to counter the challenge of Brexit. It will be implemented by the Minister’s department with significant input from Bord Bia and Irish embassies around the world, to help increase the footprint of Irish food and drink exports.

Securing access for Irish products and increasing penetration in international markets is a priority. Against the background of Brexit, we need to re-double our efforts in this regard. There have been a number of significant successes in recent times and agri-food exports to China, for example, have almost tripled in value to more than €700 million since 2010.

“We are also fortunate in that we have an excellent industry-led strategy for the growth of the sector in Food Wise 2025, which provides a clear road-map for its development.

“However, the potential effects of a UK withdrawal from the EU mean that we must intensify our efforts further and diversify to as many international markets as we can,” he added.

“This is a Government priority in response to the particular threat which Brexit poses to our agri-food sector.”

The initiatives to be prioritised by Minister Creed’s 7-point plan are as follows.

1. High-Level Market Access Committee

Establishment of a High-Level Market Access Committee within the Department, reporting directly to the Secretary General and led by an Assistant Secretary responsible for market access. This committee will meet monthly to review progress on existing market access applications and prioritise future applications.

2. Additional market access resources

The allocation of additional market access resources in the Department. Additional resources will be provided to focus specifically on market access. These will include dedicated veterinary and other expertise, to target current markets of interest to Irish food exporters and to ensure that exporters meet the conditions laid down by third countries. It will include continued support for a live export trade following on from the success in opening the Turkish and Egyptian markets last year.

3. Market profiling

The Department of Agriculture will commission Bord Bia to undertake market profiling exercises for potential third-country and EU markets for Irish exports. The Minister has asked Bord Bia to undertake an exercise to identify priority markets across the food and drink categories, which can be targeted for promotion, access applications and trade missions.

4. Trade missions

An intensified programme of trade missions to promote Irish food and drink in EU and third-country markets.

5. Conditions of certification

An immediate review of existing export markets, in which conditions of certification present barriers to trade or additional costs for exporters. This review will be carried out in collaboration with industry and, where appropriate, priority markets will be visited by a high-level DAFM (Department for Agriculture, Food and the Marine) team to resolve outstanding issues to open the market for trade.

6. Engagement with the European Commission

Increased engagement with the European Commission on measures to encourage a common approach to resolving issues relating to market access for EU products internationally.

7. Dedicated portal website

The development by the Department of a new dedicated portal website, which will bring together in one location the full range of open markets and products (and the relevant conditions and certifications — in a user-friendly manner for exporters).