THE Minister for Agriculture has promised to lead a delegation to Moscow if there is any danger of the Russians banning the £300 million Irish meat trade because of BSE.
At the National Ploughing Championships in Carlow yesterday, Mr Yates denied reports that the Russians are to impose a ban on Irish beef exports from November 1st.
"There is no ban. There is no formal communication from the Russians and indeed one of the largest consignments of beef to Russia is on its way as we speak," he said.
Mr Yates said there was a permanent Russian veterinary presence in the Republic.
There was no justification for a ban by Russia because of the low levels of BSE infection in the Irish herd.
However, he said, the reports had the potential to damage one of our best markets as Iranian veterinary experts are in the Republic at present.
He said there had been some ill informed reporting of the BSE situation here and one Russian report on TASS-ITAR had said there were 75 cases in one herd.
He added that the Australians and other rivals in the international meat markets were very willing to spread misinformation.
He admitted the Russians had some questions about the BSE situation here and, in common with other countries, they wanted to know why the number of cases was rising so sharply.
He said there had been 17 cases of BSE in July and August and he had sought an epidemiologist's report on the matter.
"While it could not lend itself to definite conclusions, I have imposed stricter controls on the feeding of bonemeal, and there are very strict licensing arrangements now," he said.
Mr Yates said he feared that some farmers might have fed bonemeal to their animals following the imposition of the ban in 1990, and this could account for the additional cases.
The Minister said he was keeping the Taoiseach and the Tanaiste informed on the developments.
Mr John Donnelly, the IFA president, yesterday called on the Taoiseach to intervene at the highest level to ensure the Russian markets remained open. The implications of a shutdown, he said, would be "extremely serious
Any ban would force the Irish beef sector back to a massive dependence on EU intervention, which no one in the industry wanted.