Minister McConalogue meets US Agriculture Secretary in Washington DC

Following the meeting, Minister McConalogue said:

“I was delighted to meet Secretary Vilsack in-person for the first time, having engaged with him virtually before now. I thanked him for the positive working relationship between our 2 departments and our 2 countries. This is most evident in the recently announced agreement on a veterinary health cert, which will allow sheepmeat exports from Ireland to the US. This is a development I am really excited about."

“I also raised with Secretary Vilsack the difficulties arising for Irish beef exports to the US, which enter under the ‘Other Country’ beef quota, with the 2022 quota already fully filled. Irish beef exports to the US (valued at €36 million for 7,000 tonnes) are an important market diversification opportunity, and highly valued by discerning US trade customers. I expressed the hope to Secretary Vilsack that it will be possible to find a technical solution which would allow quality Irish beef exports to the US to continue without facing very high tariff barriers.

“Over the course of the meeting, I outlined our Food Vision 2030 ambition for Ireland to become a world leader in sustainable food systems over the decade ahead and the 3 pillars of sustainability – environmental, social and economic.

“I commended Secretary Vilsack for the co-founding of the AIM4Climate initiative; of which Ireland is a member; which sets an ambition to double global investment in climate research for agriculture from €4 billion to €8 billion by the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in November of this year. I hope that Ireland’s strength in agri-research will contribute to finding solutions to our shared challenge of further driving down the total emissions associated with food production.”

Day Three of my Trade Mission to the US with @Bordbia and @IrelandEmbUSA

A productive day, meeting with @SecVilsack along with @DanMulhall

I met with @POTUS chief Ag advisor plus other important meetings with important Ag Senators&Congressmen.

Tomorrow I address the @WorldBank pic.twitter.com/CPfh3ixtEC

— Charlie McConalogue (@McConalogue) April 27, 2022

“I want to thank the Embassy of Ireland, including Ambassador Mulhall and Ireland’s agricultural attaché Dr Finbar Brown, for their commitment in facilitating these high level political engagements; which again reflect the positive relationship Ireland has with the US administration. The strong engagement by my department officials with their USDA counterparts is also really important to enhancing mutual understanding and collaboration.”

“Our research shows us that lamb consumption is growing in the US and that consumers, particularly younger consumers, are open to eating more lamb and are willing to pay more for ‘quality’ lamb that is reared ethically and comes from a natural environment,” she said. “With this in mind, Bord Bia’s focus will be on raising the profile of Irish sheepmeat through awareness of it as a premium product sourced from family run farms, and fully traceable from farm to fork. Creating a brand that symbolises Ireland’s heritage, quality and trust or ‘green credentials’ is key.”

Minister McConalogue will conclude the Washington DC leg of the trade mission tomorrow (Thursday), opening a seminar co-hosted with the World Bank on the theme: “Sustainable Food Systems: Nourishing the global population, meeting climate targets, and responding to the new context arising from the Ukraine crisis”.

Source: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine