The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, will travel to Cairo next week in an attempt to persuade the Egyptian authorities to recommence the importation of live cattle from Ireland.
While attending a food fair there the Minister plans to [meet his opposite number in Egypt, veterinary experts and importers, who have not been taking live animals since December. Egypt banned live cattle imports because of rising BSE figures in the Irish herd last July. The Egyptian sit will be held against a background of falling cattle prices at home and the refusal by the EU Beef Management Committee to introduce an Aids to Private Storage Scheme last Friday.
The APS scheme involves the EU paying beef factories to store beef which they buy to keep it off the markets for specified periods to prevent a glut of produce lowering prices.