This article is from page 58 of the 2007-07-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 58 JPG
A NEW Dairy Consultative Com- mittee is to be set up to help Ireland avoid a farming meltdown, following next year’s CAP Health Check and WTO talks.
The forum, which will comprise in- terested parties from within the sec- tor, was announced my the Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, at last week’s National Dairy Forum and will assist her in the evaluation of policy proposals ahead of the OEE Nee
Minister Coughlan will shortly an- nounce membership of the Consulta- tive Committee. “I am affording the sector as a whole the opportunity to
contribute to an all inclusive indus- try-wide perspective on the future policy and growth strategy for the dairy industry,’ she said.
Speaking after the Forum, Minis- ter Coughlan added that discussions were wide-ranging including the current market situation and the op- portunities and challenges that sus- tained market buoyancy will bring.
Discussions included the WTO and CAP Health Check and, in particu- lar, their implications for competi- tiveness at farm and factory level.
Minister Coughlan observed that there was a great sense of optimism amongst the participants about the future of the dairy sector and a great deal of confidence that current mar-
ket buoyancy would continue for the foreseeable future.
In this context, there was general agreement that the Irish dairy sector should take full advantage of the op- portunities that will arise to expand market opportunities.
“In the light of forecast growth in world market demand, the sector needs to adopt appropriate market- ing strategies that would best secure a growing share of international markets,’ she said.
“The general mood of confidence was tempered by concerns that com- placency might prevent the sector reaching its full growth potential. In this regard issues relating to com- petitiveness at both farm and fac-
tory level were identified including the need to expand production and processing potential in order to meet the growing demand for dairy prod- ucts in the EU and worldwide.”
According to the Minister there was a Shared view that any WTO agree- ment must be balanced and there should be parallel progress across all three pillars of the agriculture sector. ‘The period ahead and the decisions we take will have a lasting impact on the Irish dairy sector and this Fo- rum has started a process that will result in the development of a policy framework to build on the success of the sector and enable the industry here in Ireland reach its maximum potential,” she said.