The Irish beef-processing industry and the Irish Farmers Association have called a temporary truce in a row over the Egyptian beef trade here at the Anuga Food Fair, where Ireland has its largest-ever presence.
With three stands at what is the largest food and drinks fair in the world - attracting some 180,000 buyers and 6,400 exhibitors - the war of words over when Egypt will begin accepting our beef was sidelined.
Last Friday, the Irish Meat Association (IMA) issued its statement saying its members were losing money and Egypt was not issuing import licences so trade could begin. Its chief executive, Mr John Smith, said that no contracts were yet available and there were no effective supports for steer beef.
He said the rising costs of processing were not being recovered from the markets, and over the past six years processing costs had risen by £100 per animal and the market value had fallen.
The secretary general of the Department of Agriculture, Mr John Malone, described the IMA statement as "unduly negative". He said a system of veterinary certification already existed for Irish beef going to Egypt and Ireland would have to wait until export licences and other conditions were put in place.
That might involve Egyptian vets coming to Ireland to inspect killings, but, he said, this was not a new development, as the Russians, Indonesians and other customers had done this successfully before.
Mr Pat O'Rourke, president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Associations, accused factories of deliberately creating difficulties in order to lower farmer expectations of an increase in price. He said they were not losing money in key markets.
Mr Michael Duffy, Bord Bia's chief executive, said the Irish presence in Cologne was a major signal to demonstrate Ireland's export capacity.
The food and drinks sector was the most important indigenous manufacturing industry in Ireland, valued at €14 billion, of which 71 per cent was going into European markets.
Mr Philip Lynch, chairman of Bord Bia, said Ireland had to have a strong presence at this event. With 28 Irish companies exhibiting, the fair provided business people with a chance to meet existing customers and find new ones.