The Government must defend the vulnerable agri-food sector by taking a strong line on the retention of export refunds for beef and dairy products at the upcoming World Trade Organisation negotiations, the Irish Farmers' Association warned yesterday.

IFA president Mr Tom Parlon said he was concerned that other EU member-states might be prepared to trade off export refunds during the course of the negotiations.

The total value of export refunds to Ireland in 1998 was nearly £309 million (€392 million). "We hope to get support from Europe but the stomach may not be there to protect refunds," Mr Parlon said after a meeting with the Minister of State for international trade, Mr Tom Kitt.

Mr Parlon urged the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, to attend the Seattle Ministerial Conference to defend Ireland's interests at the negotiations scheduled for November 30th.

"Within the EU 15, Ireland is by far the most dependent country on non-EU markets. Currently, about 40 per cent of Ireland's beef exports and about 30 per cent of our dairy exports go to non-EU countries," he said.

He warned the export refund mechanism was top of the "hit list" of the US and Cairns group (led by agricultural exporters Australia, New Zealand and Argentina) of food exporters in the face of massive divisions between the US and the EU on agriculture.

He said the IFA's position on the negotiations was that the EU should make no concessions which would result in further cuts in agriculture above and beyond decisions reached at the Berlin summit to further reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP Reform II).

"At the end of CAP reform II for beef and dairy products there will continue to be a substantial gap between EU prices and world prices. The EU will still need export refunds to make up this gap," he added.

Mr Parlon claimed the whole European model of agriculture agreed at the Berlin summit would be under threat in the WTO negotiations. He said corporate farming countries such as Australia, the US, South America and New Zealand had "little or no regard for the community life we have in Ireland".

The IFA delegation was joined by Dr Franz-Josef Feiter of COPA, the representative body of national farm organisations in the EU. He said Europe accepted the continuing process of liberalisation but had to consider issues of environment and consumer protection as well as prices and the market. A fair market policy should be the goal.

He said that while the US maintained it was defending free market policies, in the last few years, it had given big subsidies to farmers. This should be examined.

On food safety and genetically modified products, Mr Parlon said there was a different culture in the US where the public tended to accept food scientist's recommendations. However, if there was consumer concern in Europe and a desire to slow down, that must be accepted.