Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy makes a fair point but both pork and poultry products on sale in Ireland and across the EU will have a country of origin label requirement in future, in the same way as beef products do at the moment, which will be a very welcome development when it happens. The ground is moving on this issue.

On the issue of Irish-grown, British-finished beef and the labelling system around that, there is a genuine problem with the labelling, marketing and selling of that product in the UK. That is why beef that is being sold in the UK is generally either British beef which is grown, slaughtered and processed in the UK or Irish beef, grown, slaughtered and processed here. Moving live cattle from Ireland to finish them in the UK would be welcome from a competition point of view and would also be very beneficial to live cattle exporters from a cost perspective, given the proximity of the market. This issue has been under the spotlight this year in particular because British beef prices have been higher than Irish prices, particularly for steer beef but less so for heifers. That is because of a very strong demand for British beef in Britain. However, it is also true that the prices of Irish beef have been above the EU average for most of this year. They are now slightly below the average for the first time in approximately two years.

There is a particular labelling issue in play here. Harmonised EU rules require mandatory traceability and origin labelling for beef from slaughterhouse to point of sale to consumers with the objective of providing maximum transparency for the marketing of beef. Compulsory beef labelling requires food business operators to label fresh, frozen or minced beef with specific information to enable the product to be traced back to the animals from which it was derived and must include details of the slaughterhouse and de-boning hall in which the animal was processed as well as the country in which it was born and reared.

The problem is confusion for the consumer around cattle born and raised here but finished and processed in the United Kingdom. That is why a lot of those involved in the beef industry in Britain do not want live cattle from Ireland

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

The mandatory labelling rules prevent final retailers from describing any beef products derived from animals born in Ireland but exported live for finishing and processing in Britain as either British or Irish. Labelling of such product has to state the country of birth as Ireland, the country of rearing as Ireland and the country of slaughter as the United Kingdom. As the Irish-born but UK-finished proposition is regarded as difficult to communicate to consumers and likely to cause unnecessary labelling complications, retailers prefer to market British and Irish beef separately as part of their product mix. This effectively means, as a matter of policy, they prefer beef to be sourced from animals originating in one country only. Furthermore, meat from such animals would not be eligible for the UK’s Red Tractor scheme which guarantees the UK prevalence of the meat to consumers. In addition, logistical difficulties arise when a small number of Irish-born animals are slaughtered in a UK meat plant. These carcasses have to be deboned in a separate batch, packaged and labelled accordingly, thereby incurring additional costs for the processor.

Bord Bia actively supports the development of the live export trade through the provision of market information, developing market access and promotional activity. Although Bord Bia has repeatedly raised the labelling issue in discussions with the British retail sector, the multiples are unlikely to change their stance as they seek to shorten their supply chains in the wake of the equine DNA issue. Nevertheless, Bord Bia will continue to pursue all opportunities to maximise the value and volume of our beef and livestock exports to the UK.

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