Meat Industry Ireland
Irish Grassland Association
11th May 2017
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Presentation Overview
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MII
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Food Wise 2025 & MII Sheep Policy Document
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Potential Growth
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Key issues to realise this growth

Brexit
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Meat Industry Ireland
Beef, Sheepmeat & Pigmeat
Primary Processing Operations
90% of Industry output
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Food Wise 2025


Background
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Committee representing all stakeholders

Growth vision for the period 2015 - 2025

Build on previous strategy: Harvest 2020
Growth Target

Grow export value to €19bn (85% increase on current baseline of 2012-2014)
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Key focus on sustainability
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Additional 23,000 jobs from primary production to product development
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MII Sheepmeat Policy

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Importance of the Sector
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Keep sheep sector to forefront in expansion plans
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Ensure it is part of the growth agenda
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Funding and investment
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Competition from other sectoral growth plans – ensure sheep sector not forgotten

Sheep enterprise can make positive contribution on mixed grazing enterprises

Most environmentally friendly meat production system
Growth Potential
+40%
+€150m
+1m lambs
+500 jobs
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Potential Growth

Ambitious targets

Won’t happen overnight – lead in time
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Needs buy-in from all stakeholders
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Significant potential to increase national output with productivity improvements, on
a national basis
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Restore national breeding flock
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Expand existing markets and develop new international markets
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Key Issues
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Market Access
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Crucial to realising growth potential
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Expansion in European markets – EU lamb for EU consumers
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New international markets – e.g. US, China
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Address technical restrictions on existing certificates – maximise opportunity
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Recent DAFM announcement very welcome
Promotion in the EU
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Promote EU lamb to EU consumers
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Strengthen preference for domestic EU lamb over imported

EU Sheepmeat Forum - established Autumn 2015 / final report Oct 2016
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2 priority recommendations:

Strong CAP support for sheep sector
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New promotion programme on internal market (not self-sufficient) – Ring-fence
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for sheep
Key Issues (cntd.)
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
Sustainability
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Consumers becoming more conscious re: sustainability of the meat they buy
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Sheepmeat – strong sustainability credentials
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Importance of QA scheme
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Strong linkage – environmental and economic sustainability
Market Requirements
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Need to improve / re-focus on consistency of product
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Huge variance does create issues to market such product
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Product innovation / value-add – need a consistent carcase
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Key Issues (cntd.)
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Electronic tagging
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Critical to the entire sheepmeat sector
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We should upgrade our system to best in class
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Market Access – both new and existing markets
Clean Livestock Policy
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Critically important – everyone has a role to play
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Implications for food safety, trade, shelf-life
Other important issues
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Seasonality
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Breeding
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Competitiveness – both processor and producer level
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Brexit
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No upside
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UK a large player in EU market
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297,000 tonne market. EU total = 943,000 tonne (31%)
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Trade with UK is crucial to overall market balance
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Sterling impact – Irish exports to UK / UK lamb in France
Uncertainty reigns
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Future trade
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Transition
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Customs/tariffs
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Goods transiting UK
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New Zealand quota
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Reciprocal trade flows / deeply entwined business relationships
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Maintaining unfettered access is our priority
Thank You!
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