Moves by farm groups towards an all-Ireland approach to promoting farm produce have been welcomed by Bord Bia, the food marketing agency.
This week the Irish Farmers' Association and the Ulster Farmers' Union agreed to set up a working group to produce a joint animal health strategy. This would pave the way for the all-Ireland promotion of farm produce.
Bord Bia already uses the logo "Ireland - the Food Island" in promoting food overseas, Mr Michael Duffy, the Bord Bia chief executive, said.
He added that an all-Ireland animal health strategy would be very welcome and would underpin any future joint promotion approach. "We would welcome any joint initiative where it would be mutually beneficial and in a non-competitive area," he said.
Last year Bord Bia and Northern Ireland's Industrial Development Board jointly promoted speciality foods at a New York food fair. "It was very favourably received," Mr Duffy said. Because of the "food island" logo, many overseas buyers already do not differentiate between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Northern Ireland would also welcome such promotion where it was mutually beneficial and where political sensitivities were taken into account, said Mr Phelim O'Neill, marketing manager with the NI Livestock and Meat Commission.
He said the LMC had worked with Bord Bia in the past and, where appropriate, would do so again.
Northern Ireland relies heavily on exports as it consumes only 20 per cent of what it produces. But its farmers have had several difficult years due to the BSE crisis and now foot-and-mouth.
