Agriculture JC 4 October 2001

1. The fourth meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) in its Agriculture Sectoral Format was held at the Carrickdale Hotel, Dromad, Co Louth, on Thursday 4 October 2001. The Irish Government was represented by Mr Joe Walsh, TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, who chaired the meeting, and the Northern Ireland Executive was represented by Ms Bríd Rogers, MLA, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Mr Dermot Nesbitt, MLA, Minister in the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.

2. The meeting dealt with issues relating to co-operation in Agriculture and Rural Development. Both sides highlighted the mutually beneficial results from the close contacts between the two Departments and looked forward to continued development in this area.

3. The Council noted the progress made since the last North/South Ministerial Council Agriculture Sector meeting which was held on Friday, 6 April 2001 in Dublin.

Ministers commended the Departments for their prompt and efficient action in combating the spread of the disease and agreed that the already high levels of co-operation would continue. Ministers recognised the contribution of people North and South who contributed to the collective effort in guarding against spread of the disease.

Ministers warned against complacency and urged the farming communities to continue to follow the respective guidelines and to act responsibly in the face of the continuing risk.

Council also discussed the planned reviews of the respective Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks and agreed that the cross-border dimension would be an important component.

Animal Movement and Epizootic Disease Control

Following the North/South Ministerial Council meeting on 6 April 2001 a Steering Group of Officials was established to develop a strategy on animal movements on the island of Ireland and to consider the means of prevention, containment and eradication of future epizootic disease outbreaks.

The Council noted the progress to date and in particular proposals in relation to harmonised sheep identification arrangements on both sides of the border.

The Council welcomed the planned work on this and in relation to Aujeszky's disease in pigs and looked forward to further progress in this important area.

Animal Health Policy and Operations

The Council considered a position report in relation to the establishment of formal liaison arrangements on Animal Health Policy and Operations.

The Council recognised the difficulties in progressing work in this area due to the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease and looked forward to receiving a report at the next NSMC Meeting along with a revised target date for production of the joint strategies.

The Ministers noted the establishment of an additional Policy Working Group to consider the cross-border dimension of fraud.

Scrapie Eradication

At today's meeting Ministers agreed that Scrapie in sheep was an issue for the whole island of Ireland and committed themselves to a joint approach to achieve its eradication.

Council noted the work already undertaken in the area of Genotyping and agreed that this approach and other eradication measures should be further developed with a view to having a programme of eradication for the island of Ireland launched by the end of December 2001.

The Council recognises the potential impact which the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks in both jurisdictions could have had on animal health in the island of Ireland. It notes that an all-island approach to Foot and Mouth Disease control had the effect of minimising the outbreak's spread and impact in both parts of Ireland. The Council considers that experience demonstrates clearly the benefits of such an approach in the field of animal health generally and calls upon the two Agriculture Departments to proceed with the programme of work aimed at increasing such co-operation, as a matter of priority.

4. Council discussed the WTO, EU Enlargement and CAP reform. Ministers noted the similarities in agricultural production North and South and shared concerns which emerge from these similarities.

At today's meeting Ministers discussed the areas of common concern which included :

Ministers agreed priorities for future negotiations and confirmed their commitment to continue to review developments in these matters

5. The Council received a progress report from the SCCBRD and noted the terms of reference for studies on:

The Report on these studies will be available at the end of October.

Ministers noted that the SCCBRD would continue to exchange information and provide co-operation on Rural Development Programmes.

Joint Study on the Pig Industry

6. In December 1999, the two Ministers announced the commissioning of a study of Pig Meat Processing on the island.

The study has been presented to both Ministers earlier this year and to industry organisations.

Ministers noted the conclusions of the report which indicate that without significant improvement in the competitiveness of the industry in all of Ireland it will face further reduction in both the production and processing sectors.

Council agreed that officials should continue discussions with the Development Agencies and with the industry to develop appropriate action to improve the competitive position of the pig sector on the island as a whole.

7. The Council agreed that its next meeting in this sectoral format will take place in the North in February 2002.

Joint Secretariat

4 October 2001