Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein)

As a Cavan woman I can say we definitely would not throw out perfectly good food; we would make sure to eat as much of it as we can.

I welcome the Minister to the House. I thank Senators Quinn and Mary Ann O'Brien for tabling the motion. I have a keen interest in the area of food labelling having been a researcher on a report commissioned by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment from 2009 to 2010. Arthur Morgan was the rapporteur of the committee at the time and I spent much time researching food labelling. I will focus my comments specifically on country of origin labelling, substantial transformation and use of the term "Irish food". When I read the motion I was very excited and quite nerdish.

One of the recommendations adopted by the report, which was supported by all parties in the committee, was on the use of the term "Irish food". We stated a set of guidelines should be established so such terms could be used only after specific criteria were satisfied.

Senators mentioned the rule on substantial transformation, which holds a product originates in the country where it last underwent a substantial working or processing resulting in the creation of a new and different article of commerce having a name, character or use different to its constituent materials. This terminology originates in a World Trade Organisation codex and EU legislation governing the EU custom code and therefore it can be amended only at EU level. As it stands, the tariff nomenclature does not distinguish agri-food products which are subject to substantial transformation. Because of this it is not possible to distinguish between goods wholly made in one country and those transformed in the tariff codes under the current international system.

Once the good meets the requirement for substantial transformation under EU rules of origin, it qualifies as a good originating in the country in which the substantial transformation has taken place. It is treated in the same way as a good wholly made in the same country for the process of applying or suspending tariffs.

With regard to the Government's amendment, will the Minister provide the House with further details of the feasibility study of the possibility of extending country of origin labelling requirements to other foods? Will he or the Minister for Health inform the process or make submissions or will consultation take place? What interaction has his Department or the Department of Health had with the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the national codex committee in Ireland on the issue of substantial transformation, given that it is a critically important?

I refer to the use of terms such as "Irish food". State aid rules are restrictive and, therefore, the Government cannot intervene. The importance of marketing and promotion by the industry and other stakeholders cannot be underestimated in the light of this. Campaigns such as Bord Bia's Ireland - the Food Island have capitalised on the excellent image of Irish food abroad, but I would add a caveat. Market-led food campaigns are at risk of being exploited by companies operating and manufacturing outside the jurisdiction and, because of the state aid rules, consumers have become wholly reliant on industry-led campaigns such as Love Irish Food for the indication of country of origin. The problems that can arise which are beyond the scope of Government intervention are that consumers can be misled by the use of the term "Irish food" in a campaign where the producer does not always use Irish raw materials and must only ensure 80% of the manufacturing process takes place in Ireland. While the campaign supports Irish businesses, the food may not be completely Irish. For that reason, it is necessary to put ethics regulations and guidelines in place in order that the term "Irish food" can only be used when specific criteria are satisfied. In that way, the Government would not contravene state aid rules per se and would prevent exploitation of consumers by the industry.

The ramifications of state aid rules for Government intervention leave a large vacuum for industry to exploit consumers because there is a financial imperative behind making consumers think a product is more Irish than might be the case. Many examples have been highlighted in the debate. For example, how many Irish cream liqueurs are made in Ireland? It is only when there is complete transparency that we will be able to tackle food issues such as the level of obesity. That is why I ask the Ministers for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Health and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to work together to examine this issue in serious detail.