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Charlie McConalogue T.D., Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, today announced that progress has been made toward achieving PGI status for Irish Grass Fed Beef.

Minister McConalogue stated: “I am hopeful that the PGI application for Irish Grass Fed Beef, submitted by Bord Bia on behalf of Irish farmers,  will be published by the EU Commission in the coming weeks for the next stage of consultation at EU Member State and Third Country level. 

If successfully registered, PGI status for Irish Grass Fed Beef could have significant benefits for all those in the supply chain, particularly our beef farmers who are the cornerstone of the sector. 

"We will continue to engage intensively with the European Commission on this application, and with counterparts in Northern Ireland with a view to ensuring that NI can join the application at the appropriate time.  I have spoken to Minister Poots on this.

 I acknowledge the work involved by my Department and Bord Bia in getting the application to this stage.”

NOTE FOR EDITORS:

Further information on Geographical Indications, including Protected Geographical Indication, is available here: gov.ie - Geographical Indications (Protected Food and Drink Names) (www.gov.ie)

After an extensive consultation process with stakeholders, a PGI application for Irish Grass Fed Beef from Bord Bia, on behalf of producers, was submitted to the European Commission in November 2020 by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The European Commission responded to this application in May 2021 with technical queries. Since then the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and Bord Bia have engaged with the Commission in detailed technical discussions on the application.

ENDS