If Turkey wants more Irish cattle delivered more quickly it could ease some of its strict export requirements, one exporter told the Irish Farmers Journal.

The 20-day quarantine for feeder bulls and 30 days for breeding heifers, in addition to the 12-month and 300kg limits on age and weight, add costs and restricts the pool of cattle eligible for export. They also add financial risk – shipping can be delayed and animals already bought go over age or weight.

A technical group of officials from the Department of Agriculture and their counterparts in the Turkish ministry is to be appointed to look at trade issues.

Exporters hope that these rules could be simplified over the next 12 to 18 months.

Exporting Irish cattle to Turkey requires a lot of up-front money. A boatload of 2,000 young feeder bulls would cost €2.3m (see panel below).

Only the biggest of the exporters have such working capital. Others will look for up-front instalments from the Turkish customer, bank loans or mart credit. Usually, a mix of all three, along with the exporter’s own money, is pulled together.

During the recent trade mission to Izmir, Irish visitors asked Turkish officials if changes could be made to quarantine, age and weight limits. In the words of one participant, “they didn’t say no”.

However, quarantine is regarded as an important measure for minimising disease risk, while the 12-month age limit is linked to tariff rates.

The 300kg weight limit on feeder bulls could perhaps be re-examined.

One Irish exporter enquired about delivering more cattle to Turkey by specialist livestock truck but both the Irish and Turkish authorities see delivery by boat as most successful in terms of cattle health and welfare.

In the past year, a number of Irish exporters have not been paid fully for cattle exported.

Penalties were applied for overweight cattle, late delivery and smaller numbers delivered than contracted.

The Irish Farmers Journal has been also contacted by licensed hauliers who say they are finding it hard to get paid by exporters and that their rates are constantly being pared down.

Export costs: €2.3m per boat

If suitable stock cost an average of €800 per head, a full boat of 2,000 will cost €1.6m. Chartering a boat costs about €400,000. Hay, ration and sawdust bedding costs another €70,000. Hay could be bought cheaper in Spain when the boat is on the way back from Turkey to Ireland, but this is not allowed by the Department of Agriculture, exporters say. Quarantine costs up to €3/hd per day.

Exporters have proposed that the 10-day boat journey be included as part of the quarantine but it has gone nowhere.

Vaccination and testing costs €7/hd and haulage and commissions up to €50/hd.

Hidden costs include rejection of animals at port by Department of Agriculture vets for presence of horns and stubs, and infections such as ringworm.

In all the cost of delivering 2,000 young feeder bulls to Turkey comes to some €2.3m. Exporting costs amount to €350/hd on top of the animal’s purchase price.

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