Results 141-160 of 4,571 for speaker:Trevor Sargent

Written Answers — Food Labelling: Food Labelling (6 Oct 2009)

Trevor Sargent: Food labelling is currently governed by Council Directive 2000/13/EC, transposed in 2002, with several amendments since. While I am not aware of any specific case of re-labelling poultry and poultry products which were originally sourced in the UK, under Council Directive 2000/13/EC, it is permissible to state, under country of origin labelling, the country in which the product last...

Written Answers — Food Labelling: Food Labelling (9 Jul 2009)

Trevor Sargent: Responsibility for the enforcement of labelling legislation rests with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and its official agents, which include the Health Service Executive, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Local Authorities. Some 44,000 inspections are planned for 2009. Inspection and food surveillance reports are submitted to the Authority every six...

Written Answers — Food Safety Standards: Food Safety Standards (9 Jul 2009)

Trevor Sargent: Responsibility for the enforcement of labelling legislation rests with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and its official agents, which include the Health Service Executive, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Local Authorities. 44,000 inspections are planned for 2009. Inspection and food surveillance reports are submitted to the Authority every six months....

Written Answers — Food Labelling: Food Labelling (30 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: Currently, EU general labelling requirements for all foodstuffs are set out in Directive 2000/13/EC. This Directive lists the compulsory information to be included on all labels, such as the list of ingredients, the use-by date and any special conditions of use. In addition to the general legislation, there are certain labelling rules for certain food groups (e.g. country of origin...

Written Answers — Food Labelling: Food Labelling (30 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: Responsibility for the enforcement of food labelling legislation in fast food retail outlets rests with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). Checks on compliance are incorporated into routine hygiene inspections for such establishments. These inspections are carried out by the Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) in the Health Service Executive (HSE) operating under a service...

Food Industry. (30 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: There is no resistance in the Government to country of origin labelling. We would introduce it overnight if we did not have the resistance from other member states. We are working on that and I will not give up on it. Deputy Doyle is right. A very serious situation confronts the food and drink sector and I talked about the quicker element of the response, which had to be brought about by...

Food Industry. (30 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: The report by the Competition Authority, as its name suggests, puts much emphasis on competition but it points out that exporters will frequently price to the market. The retail sector is being shown to have a selective approach to what it means by competition in any one market and will play to its strengths and have higher margins in some areas than others because it considers it can get...

Food Industry. (30 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: That is why we need a retail ombudsman. I heard the Tesco representative on "Morning Ireland" this morning. He did not give a "Yes" or "No" answer when asked about a retail ombudsman. Consumers, the Government and the industry need to come together and recognise that unless we have transparency and an end to this dysfunctional operation of the retail sector, the suppliers will not be...

Food Industry. (30 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: He did not answer the question, but he will have to do so.

Common Agricultural Policy. (30 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: Concrete proposals have yet to emerge on the shape of EU agriculture policy beyond 2013. Among the ideas emerging are demands from some member states for a lower budget share for agriculture and for eventual dismantling of CAP; demands from new member states for re-balancing of member states' shares of agricultural funding; increased calls for changes to the single payment system to move...

Common Agricultural Policy. (30 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: I could not disagree with what the Deputy is saying. The one thing we could say is that the family farm structure, which he mentioned, coming from the origins of the European Union and the Treaty of Rome, is more essential than ever, but probably for different reasons. It originally came about with the emphasis on affordable food and supply of food without the current issue facing us, which...

Tax Yield. (30 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: Under the Milk (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1979 as amended, a fee of €0.001 per litre is imposed on all milk intended for manufacturing or for the preparation of drinking milk. The fee contributes to the cost of providing the food safety inspection service and other work involved in the administration of EU market management schemes and is a requirement under EU legislation. Under the...

Retail Sector Developments. (30 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: The issue of retail margins on food products was first raised as a formal agenda point at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting in January of this year when the Commission introduced its communication which analyses the causes for recent volatility of food prices, provides a medium-term outlook for such prices and outlines a road map for future policy decisions to improve the...

Retail Sector Developments. (30 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: It is worth discussing again.

Retail Sector Developments. (30 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: I share the Deputy's sense of urgency about the matter. Along with the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, who understands the agricultural sector more than most other Ministers for Enterprise, Trade and Employment given her background, I have been at pains to state that we need urgent action to introduce legislation and a code of practice. That would provide for...

Retail Sector Developments. (30 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: I would like such framework to be legally enforceable and to have teeth. I am in no doubt about that. However, doing that takes longer in the legislative cycle than putting in place a voluntary code. We need to do both. We must, first, send out the signal that this is an urgent matter that cannot wait until a perfect solution is found and, second, we must create the expectation that a...

Retail Sector Developments. (30 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: In response to the questions from Deputies Doyle and Sherlock, I must point out that the ombudsman is the vehicle for the legally enforceable approach to the situation. For example, I would envisage that the ombudsman will be able to insist on particular information being divulged, be it in respect of promotion funding and how the supplier is expected to pay for it or overall profits. I...

Written Answers — Food Labelling: Food Labelling (18 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: At present EU food labelling legislation is harmonised by Council Directive 2000/13/EC, transposed in 2002, with several amendments since. In January 2008, the European Commission presented its proposal for a new regulation updating and harmonising this legislation. This proposal, which is still under discussion, will both consolidate existing legislation in the area of food labelling and...

Ministerial Travel. (17 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: He is doing his job.

Ministerial Travel. (17 Jun 2009)

Trevor Sargent: He cycled in today as well.