Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 170: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if she has satisfied herself that all food exports from this country are fully labelled and traceable; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17630/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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All food produced under the control of my Department is subject to checks to ensure that it complies with relevant EU food labelling and traceability legislation. The requirements are as follows. In the case of fresh meat, carcasses, half carcasses or half carcasses cut into no more than three wholesale cuts and quarters intended to be placed on the market for human consumption must bear the EC health mark, including the name of the country of origin. In the case of packaged cut meat, the health mark must be applied to a label fixed to the packaging or printed on the packaging in such a way that it is destroyed when the packaging is opened. The EC health mark allows meat produced in export approved premises to be traced back to the plant of origin.

Raw milk, heat treated milk and milk based products must be labelled, without prejudice to the provisions of Directive 79/112/EEC, in accordance with the conditions governing labelling contained in Council Directive 92/46/EEC which includes the necessity to apply an EC health mark containing the name of the country of origin.