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The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed led a delegation involving Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland, and Irish food industry representatives, on a five day trade mission to the US and Canada.Speaking in advance of the mission, Minister Creed stressed the importance of strengthening trading relationships against the background of Brexit; plus, creating opportunities for the Irish agri-food sector to grow in international markets.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 The value of Irish agri food exports to North America continues to grow. This mission is an opportunity to strengthen and develop existing relationships in the United States.The minister also intends to build on the recent free trade agreement between the EU and Canada, by raising the profile of Ireland as a source of quality food and beverages and by boosting export values. \\u201cLeveraging the very strong presence of the Irish Embassies in Washington and Ottawa, and in collaboration with industry and our State Agencies, we want to highlight the credentials of Ireland\\u2019s food and drink sector from a food safety, sustainability and authenticity perspective, in order to develop a unique selling point for Irish product,\\u201d he said.The value of Irish food and drink exports to the United States has doubled since 2012, exceeding \\u20ac1 billion in 2017 for the first time. Exports to Canada totalled at \\u20ac104 million in 2017.