An order of 2,500 bulls which had been placed with a southern-based cattle exporter has been cancelled due to a delay in getting the purchaser’s visa approved.
An Irish cattle-exporting firm based in Munster had struck a deal with a Libyan customer for a consignment of 2,500 bulls plus a follow-on contract of a further 2,500 bulls, pending the customer travelling to Ireland to pre-select the cattle.
Speaking to Agriland, the exporter said: “How are we supposed to operate in this country if the authorities can’t manage to process a visa for an overseas customer who is potentially going to buy €6 million worth of Irish cattle this year?”
Overseas customers for Irish cattle travel to Ireland on a regular basis to meet with cattle exporters and pre-select the type of cattle they want. On these trips, orders are placed and Irish cattle are sold to the customers.
“We see government ministers travelling on trade missions across the world and yet the same ministers can’t manage to help Irish cattle exporters get the existing customers into this country to buy cattle. It’s a joke,” the exporter said.
“The visa application has been with authorities for 12 weeks now and the Libyan cattle buyer has contacted me this week to cancel the order saying the cattle will now be sourced in another European country.
“Our clients asked us to try sort their visas. We were just stonewalled by the Irish authorities and now the customer has told us to ‘get lost’ and said they will buy the cattle in a different country.
“The visa application was not refused and the applicant was not asked for any further information; there’s just been nothing.”
The Cork-based exporter told Agriland that this is not the first time this has happened and called on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue to liaise with the relevant departments to ensure multi-million euro cattle export deals like this are not lost again in the future.