A SHIP carrying more than 1,600 Irish cattle has been refused permission to dock in the Egyptian port of Alexandria after that country's President banned all livestock imports from Europe in the wake of the British BSE threat.
Early this morning, the ship, the Friesian Express, was still anchored outside the port awaiting further instructions from the exporters, Horgan Livestock of Douglas, Co Cork.
Another 1,963 Irish animals are due in the same port today, and at least one other boatload of cattle is on its way to Egypt, raising fears that animals might suffer if there are lengthy delays at sea.
Last night, however, the Department of Agriculture in Dublin said it had no immediate concern for the welfare of the 1,600 cattle.
"We know that a representative from the exporters, Horgans in Cork, has arrived in Alexandria and we are aware that the animals have enough fodder and water for some time to come", he said.
President Mubarak of Egypt announced the ban on Friday. The Department said the ban was an EU matter which could only be resolved by the Commission and it was seeking urgent EU action to safeguard the animals by having the embargo lifted. The Republic's cattle trade with Egypt was worth nearly £300 million last year.
The Department spokesman said he was hopeful that the Egyptian ban would be lifted after the EU's Veterinary Committee meets today to discuss the Union's policy on British beef. The committee is widely expected to recommend to the Commission that a blanket ban be imposed on all beef and beef product exports from Britain.
"Ireland will effectively be supporting measures which will ring fence this problem, which is affecting all of Europe in terms of consumer confidence", said the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Yates.
The Minister also announced yesterday that in future all beef from herds where a BSE case has been identified will be destroyed. Up until now, only the carcass of the diseased animal was destroyed and the rest was allowed into the food chain after examination.
Last January, the Minister gave assurances that before beef from the remaining carcasses is sold, strict ante and post mortem tests would be carried out on the animals, including microscopic examination of older animals.
In addition to destroying all the meat from herds, there will be increased Customs and Garda activity on the Border to ensure that no animals from the North or Britain are smuggled into the Republic.
Last night, there was an early indication of this when Customs and Excise officers seized 64 head of cattle, including a number of bulls, at Clyhore customs post, near Ballyshannon, Co Donegal.
Veterinary officers from the Department of Agriculture and Food discovered that many of the animals did not have certified tags, while some others were found with replacement tags and some had no ear tagging at all.
The Minister also confirmed yesterday that he expected Garda action soon in the case of one of his own officials, who is being investigated over allegations that he sold blank health documents to a ring which used them to give Irish identity to British cattle which cannot be sold in the EU.
In other developments, Bord Bia, the Irish food board, is to meet officials from the British supermarket chains later today to prepare a strategy for the sale of Irish beef in Britain.
The multiple retail stores in Britain control over 50 per cent of the beef trade in Britain and they sell most of the £200 million worth of Irish beef which arrives on the British market.
Mr Yates said that in the UK Bord Bia would be looking to brand beef in British supermarkets as Irish because multiples had such a large consumer share.
He said that it was correct to say that the breakdown in the IRA ceasefire had "put on hold" a plan by the board to brand market Irish beef in one British supermarket chain. He had taken part in talks about the project last January.
In Britain, where the McDonald's hamburger chain announced it would no longer be selling British beef, consumption of beef is expected to fall in the short term by between 30 and 50 per cent.
It was learned last night that one leading Irish beef processing company has offered to supply the hamburger chain.