Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed is to lead four Government agri-food trade missions in 2019 with a focus on North Africa and the Far East.

Minister Creed will head to Turkey in early March, China in May, Japan and South Korea in June, and Algeria and Egypt in November. It was previously suggested that increasing live exports to the likes of Turkey and Egypt would be a priority for 2019.

Announcing the locations of the missions the Minister said: “Trade missions play an important role in market development, and I have been very active on this front in recent years as we strive to gain, and then develop, a presence in as many global markets as possible.”

Market access

The trade missions will focus on promoting Irish food and drink already available in those markets and further developing relationships at political and official level. Minister Creed said these relationships were crucial to gaining market access and broadening existing levels of access.

Welcoming the announcement, Bord Bia CEO, Tara McCarthy said: “Ministerial-led trade missions provide invaluable access and opportunities for Irish exporters who are looking to explore or enter into a new market, and from experience, these missions also help cultivate stronger trading relationships.”

She added that Bord Bia would be participating in international trade shows across 14 key markets in Asia, North America, Europe and the Middle East.

Attaché posts

An additional four agricultural attachés, who are officials located in Irish embassies with a special responsibility for agriculture, will be recruited.

They will be placed in embassies in Berlin, Toyko, Seoul and Mexico.

This represents a 50% increase on the Department’s existing eight agricultural attaché posts.

The new posts form part of the expansion of Ireland’s global footprint in the context of the Global Ireland 2025 initiative that was launched by the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in 2018.