Speaking at a meeting today (Tuesday) of the Joint Committees on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership (TTIP), Minister for Jobs, Richard Bruton said hormone treated beef will not enter Europe from the USA under the terms of the currently negotiated agreement.

He said the US will have to replicate our standards of traceability in relation to non-hormone treated beef and then satisfy Europe that it has done so.

The Minister added that there will be no expansion of current GMO rules under the agreement, for which a framework is due to be created by the end of the year.

Responding to Andrew Doyle TD, chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Agriculture, Minister Bruton said there will be more challenges than opportunities in the beef sector while the opposite applies to the dairy sector.

"In the beef sector we have both offensive and defensive interests under the terms of the TTIP agreement," the Minister said.

"On the one hand the opening of the US market to Irish beef presents opportunities to market choice cuts of beef to US consumers. However, the import of US beef into Europe is a potential challenge for Ireland, which is the biggest net exporter of beef to EU countries. We don't want the market to become flooded with cheaper cuts from America."

The Minister added, however, that the current price of American beef cuts would be a deterrent to buyers in Europe.

In terms of the dairy sector, the Minister said there are more opportunities in this sector, as the US currently does not recognise the standards of Irish butter, cheese and powdered milk.

He said that once the terms of the agreement are clarified, Ireland will be better placed to market and export these dairy products to the USA.

"We hope to get in behind the regulatory barriers so that the USA will recognise the standards of our dairy products."