November 6th 1999

Outlook for pigmeat good says Walsh

THE outlook for the pigmeat market is good, Minister for Agriculture Joe Walsh said this week. The EU Commission is forecasting a drop in supplies in the last quarter of this year and this, coupled with increased demand for the Christmas period, should help to give pig producers a much needed boost in prices, he said.

Speaking in the Dail the Minister said he had written to the EU Commission urgently seeking the reversal of the cuts in export refunds for Russia and speedy conclusion of the food aid programme to that country.

To date 50,000 tonnes of EU pigmeat has been exported to Russia as food aid, he said, while 420,000 tonnes of pigmeat was removed by the recent APS scheme. Another 50,000 tonnes of pigmeat is due to go to Russia as food aid.

"I also requested the Commission to introduce proposals for long term measures to assist the pigmeat sector, such as supply control, something which the Commission was asked by Council to do," Minister Walsh said.

He said his officials have met with Enterprise Ireland and asked them to examine the issue of slaughtering capacity and whether there were other aspects of the industry requiring attention and possible investment.