Mr. George Kearns:

I will cover the National Dairy Council's, NDC's, labelling and the logo. The NDC’s logo on consumer packs of Irish fresh milk which states “Farmed in the Republic of Ireland" guarantees the domestic provenance of the milk and has received widespread recognition and support by consumers and is impacting on their buying decisions. One major retailer has a declared marketing and purchasing policy to buy only milk produced in the State, to which it strictly adheres. Other retailers who sell only own-label milk source product either from within or outside the State. Others still source almost all their own-label milk from within the State or all their own-label milk from imported supplies which are packed in the State.

The consumers’ ability to make a decision to support local produce and to buy products produced in the Republic of Ireland is dependent on consumers being able to clearly identify, distinguish and choose between products which are produced within the State and products which are imported from outside the State. A fundamental pillar of the EU market is the free movement of goods and services across the Common Market. That has been of great economic benefit to Irish exporters, to the national economy and to its citizens. There is concern, however, that the consumer is unable to clearly see where a product has been produced. Products should be clearly labelled both as to provenance and content. The requirement is particularly apposite in terms of own-label milk which may be supplied and packed by multiple suppliers with milk sourced both from within and outside the State. Accordingly, the country of origin of the milk and the name of the milk processor should be clearly stated on the pack. Some retailers have been very progressive in this regard in relation to cheese and fresh dairy products and even show the farmer producer on the product label. The EU numerical identification mark, which is compulsory on food product packaging, does not identify the source of the food in the pack and as it is coded is of little use to the consumer in identifying the country of origin of the food stuff. The most relevant legislative provision concerning labelling is the sequence of Irish legislation commencing with the Communities (Labelling Presentation and Advertising of Foodstuffs) Regulations 2002 and various amending regulations. The 2002 regulations concerning labelling were transposed into Irish law by EU Directive 2000/13/EC re labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs.

A basic requirement of the regulations is that the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs must be clear, unambiguous and must not mislead the consumer to a material degree. In this context, it should be noted that “labelling” shall mean any words, particulars, trademarks, brand name, pictorial matter or symbol relating to a foodstuff and placed on any packaging, document notice, accompanying or referring to such foodstuffs. A number of instances of confusing labelling of fresh milk have come to the agency’s attention and the agency would recommend that the provisions of the above EU regulations be extended to fresh milk.