The IFA is scheduled to meet the Department of Agriculture on Friday to discuss the PGI application for Irish grass-fed beef.
The delegation will consist of IFA president Tim Cullinan and livestock chair Brendan Golden.
Last week, the IFA wrote to Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue seeking an assurance that he would engage with the IFA before lodging a PGI application with the EU.
Golden said: "It is a great pity that what should be a positive development for the sector has become mired in controversy due to a lack of consultation on the original application.
"We have been in contact with the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) who are concerned about the application proceeding without Northern Ireland farmers. It is important, particularly in the context of Brexit, that we don't create any unintended barriers to the movement of animals across the border.”
Amendments
Meanwhile, the ICMSA has said the Irish beef sector has an opportunity to take a positive step forward by submitting a PGI application for Irish grass-fed beef under which 70% of Irish beef would qualify.
ICMSA president Pat McCormack warned: “We are in very real danger at this stage of turning a potential positive for Irish beef into a certain negative and creating divisions that will damage only one part of the beef supply chain, the farmer."
Following a meeting with the Department of Agriculture and Bord Bia, McCormack said there are aspects of the document that should be amended, including the eligible grades for cows.
With this taken into account, the ICMSA president suggested the document is a reasonable basis to get a PGI status for Irish beef without any additional conditions being imposed on farmers.
Assurances
McCormack said: “Both Bord Bia and the Department have assured us that there will be no new conditions placed on farmers over and above the existing conditions in the Bord Bia Beef and Lamb Quality Assurance Scheme.
“No one pretended that PGI would solve our profitability problems in beef production, but it most certainly represented a move in the right direction and we think the opportunity should be seized without further delay.”
The ICMSA president has called on Bord Bia to underline their commitment in written assurances that no new rules will be introduced and that farmers will be free to sell their cattle to whichever meat plant they wish.
“As farmers, we have been saying for decades that we need to brand our product and differentiate it from others to show that we have the best beef in the world.
“Beef producers, whether suckler or dairy, are highly vulnerable to a no-deal Brexit and a PGI provides an opportunity to brand ourselves and hopefully add value,” McCormack concluded.
Read more
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TDs question why beef PGI is not farmer-led
The IFA is scheduled to meet the Department of Agriculture on Friday to discuss the PGI application for Irish grass-fed beef.
The delegation will consist of IFA president Tim Cullinan and livestock chair Brendan Golden.
Last week, the IFA wrote to Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue seeking an assurance that he would engage with the IFA before lodging a PGI application with the EU.
Golden said: "It is a great pity that what should be a positive development for the sector has become mired in controversy due to a lack of consultation on the original application.
"We have been in contact with the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) who are concerned about the application proceeding without Northern Ireland farmers. It is important, particularly in the context of Brexit, that we don't create any unintended barriers to the movement of animals across the border.”
Amendments
Meanwhile, the ICMSA has said the Irish beef sector has an opportunity to take a positive step forward by submitting a PGI application for Irish grass-fed beef under which 70% of Irish beef would qualify.
ICMSA president Pat McCormack warned: “We are in very real danger at this stage of turning a potential positive for Irish beef into a certain negative and creating divisions that will damage only one part of the beef supply chain, the farmer."
Following a meeting with the Department of Agriculture and Bord Bia, McCormack said there are aspects of the document that should be amended, including the eligible grades for cows.
With this taken into account, the ICMSA president suggested the document is a reasonable basis to get a PGI status for Irish beef without any additional conditions being imposed on farmers.
Assurances
McCormack said: “Both Bord Bia and the Department have assured us that there will be no new conditions placed on farmers over and above the existing conditions in the Bord Bia Beef and Lamb Quality Assurance Scheme.
“No one pretended that PGI would solve our profitability problems in beef production, but it most certainly represented a move in the right direction and we think the opportunity should be seized without further delay.”
The ICMSA president has called on Bord Bia to underline their commitment in written assurances that no new rules will be introduced and that farmers will be free to sell their cattle to whichever meat plant they wish.
“As farmers, we have been saying for decades that we need to brand our product and differentiate it from others to show that we have the best beef in the world.
“Beef producers, whether suckler or dairy, are highly vulnerable to a no-deal Brexit and a PGI provides an opportunity to brand ourselves and hopefully add value,” McCormack concluded.
Read more
What’s next for beef PGI as 22 oppositions lodged
All-island beef PGI ‘not practical at this time’
TDs question why beef PGI is not farmer-led
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