Minister Doyle Hosts Meeting of 20 Senior Chinese Agriculture Officials on their Visit to Ireland
This morning Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Mr. Andrew Doyle TD, hosted a group of Chinese Agriculture officials here in Ireland as part of a Knowledge Transfer initiative, co-funded by the EU and Bord Bia under the “European Beef & Lamb – Excellence in Food Safety & Sustainability” programme.
The Minister said: “I was delighted to meet these officials this morning. Ireland’s agri-food trade with China continues to grow and in 2016 China was the third largest destination for our agri-food exports with exports over €780 million. Continuing to develop and build relationships between our two countries is crucial and internships and incoming study visits play an important role in this.”
The visiting group included delegates from the Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), Administration of Quality, Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), Certification and Accreditation Administration (CNCA) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA).
The Minister noted that: “This morning my officials were able to provide a comprehensive overview of the overall agri-food sector in Ireland and the role played by FoodWise 2025, as well as official controls in the meat and dairy sectors and controls on imported food products.”
Over the course of two weeks the group will attend the National Ploughing Championships, visit a number of farms, factories and centres of excellence in areas of agri-food research and innovation. The Minister said that: “The group will have an excellent opportunity to see in practice the production of high quality, safe and sustainably produced Irish beef and sheepmeat.”
Note for editors
The Department has had an internship exchange programme in place with China since 2006, during which time 36 Chinese officials have benefitted. This programme offers practical opportunities to understand how Ireland manages its food production system, from farm to fork.
During a visit to Ireland in April by Minister for Administration of Quality, Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), Minister Zhi Shuping (Minister for Administration of Quality, Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine – AQSIQ), Minister Creed announced that he was increasing these numbers to 20 interns per annum for each of the next three years.
Bord Bia, together with the Department, arranges the internship programme. This year it is hosting this group of 20 Chinese government officials on a two week study visit to Ireland from 17th to 29th September. This study visit is part of a Knowledge Transfer initiative which is being coordinated through a 3-year, €3.75m EU co-funded campaign entitled “European Beef & Lamb – Excellence in Food Safety & Sustainability”.
ENDS
Date Released: 18 September 2017
