There was further disappointment for the beef industry tonight when the Egyptian authorities confirmed that they would not be accepting beef from Europe from the end of this week. Their ban had earlier been described as merely "temporary", but it now seems that it will continue in the short term.
Last week after a visit to Cairo, Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh said he was hopeful that the embargo on our £200m worth of exports to Egypt could have beef lifted in a short time but that now seems unlikely.
Meanwhile, the IFA has described as "disastrous" a number of decisions taken this afternoon in Brussels. The EU Beef Management Committee has decided to re-introduce beef intervention storage immediately. Minister Walsh said the new arrangements will help to restore stability to the uncertain market conditions currently prevailing.
However, the IFA said that current intervention prices of 83p a lb for R3 grades were unacceptable, and that a viable level of 90p a lb is needed. IFA leader Tom Parlon also said that the destruction policy agreed in Brussels discriminates heavily against Ireland. He said said that rhe price of destruction of steers here is £190 a head or 31% below the price for the same cattle in France. The ICMSA leader Pat O'Rourke also said that the minimum price required for intervention is 90p a lb.
Meanwhile, Minister Walsh has welcomed figures from the Central Stastistics Office showing a 14% in farm incomes this year. But Tom Parlon said the figures completely distort the true income position and the crisis in the beef sector.
