This article is from page 67 of the 2008-04-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 67 JPG
THE Clare farming industry faces a €70,000 obliteration next month if the predicted 70 per cent cut in beef import tariff’s 1s sanctioned by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). That is the opinion of the IFA’s Chief Economist, Clareman Con Lu- cey, who predicts that beef output in the county will be halved in the tariff is scrapped. Beside the loss in pro- duction, this could see a mass exodus from the sector which employs al- most 5,000 people in the county. “Europe is a much higher cost re-
210n to produce in than sectors such as south America. Besides that, Eu- ropean farmers have to operate un- der much tighter health and safety conditions that farmers in other re- gions. This creates a problem if we are competing directly with places where conditions are not enforced,” said Mr Lucey.
“According to our calculations, this new tariff will bring the price of beef down to around €2 per kilogram. Where as the cost of production in Ireland is now €3 per kilogram. It would make no economic since to keep producing under these condi-
ney nce
A WTO Ministerial meeting is due to take place in mid May where a res- olution on the long running negotia- tions is expected to be arrived at.
“In terms of Clare we have more than 4,200 suckler herds. This makes Clare very very vulnerable for any proposed cut. We estimate the total farm input in Clare is about €140 million per year. We would ex- pect this to half if the agreement is passed,’ continued Con.
“Clare is a beef dominated county and there isn’t really much of an al- ternative. There is no money in sheep
and the land is not good enough for tillage so there is no alternative for EB Eeilone
“There is starting to be a greater awareness of the quality and tracta- bility of some of this imported foods. We had the ban on Brazilian beef Where most of the exports facilities there have been shut down. Last year then we had bird flu outbreak in the Thailand. One of our particular wor- ries 1s that there 1s little public debate going on on this World Trade Debate so far. This is a hugely serious situa- tion for farmers in Ireland and espe- cially farmers in county Clare.”