THE Irish Farmers' Association said last night that the return of Argentina to the Russian market, coupled with a cut in EU export refunds, must have an impact on Irish beef sales there.
The spokesman said the 7 per cent cut in export refunds announced on Tuesday, the Russian ban on beef from some Irish counties and the return of the Argentinians were unwelcome news.
He accused the EU Commission of "giving away" Ireland's international beef markets to Argentina and other non EU countries.
A spokesman for An Bord Bias said Russia's beef requirement was 450,000 tonnes and Ireland would continue to compete effectively in the market. The news comes at a sensitive time for beef exporters to Russia, which has become Ireland's largest market.
Last year, with the aid of the EU refunds, beef factories supplied 140,000 tonnes of beef to Russia worth £250 million and expect to sell the same quantity this year. Recent figures show that this represents 37 per cent of all beef exports, which last year totalled 425,000 tonnes. Industry sources said that while the return of Argentina to the Russian market was unwelcome, suppliers should be able to compete.
"Much will depend on the continuation of EU export refunds. Without those, we would not be able to compete in the market at all," said one exporter.
"It will also depend on the kind of deal the Argentinians have offered the Russians, and we would like to know what the details of the technical agreement are."
Exports to Russia since the beginning of the year have been running at a very high level and it is estimated that over 30,000 tonnes have already been dispatched.