Written answers

Tuesday, 28 June 2005

Department of Health and Children

Food Safety Authority

10:00 pm

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Question 153: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to the reason the Food Safety Authority of Ireland has not yet published its completed audit of the labelling and traceability structures as currently operate across Ireland's food industry; the date when this research will be published; if her attention has further been drawn to the main findings of this audit and its recommendations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21886/05]

Photo of Seán PowerSeán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Food businesses are required to manage food safety proactively and a traceability system is an essential element of a food safety management system as it provides a means by which a food company can track and trace any foodstuff that is suspect or unsafe.

In July 2002, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland produced a detailed guidance note on recall and traceability which was developed by the authority in collaboration with the enforcement agencies, the food industry and the food and drinks federation of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, IBEC. This note aimed to clarify and standardise procedures for the identification and removal of unsafe foodstuffs from the food chain.

Under recent EU legislation, food operators must have a traceability system in place. This requirement is contained in Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 of 28 January 2002. This regulation, which is applicable from 1 January 2005, requires that food and feed business operators shall be able to identify any person from whom they have been supplied with a food, a feed, a food producing animal or any substance intended to be, expected to be incorporated into a food or feed — to achieve this operators shall have in place systems and procedures which allow for this information to be made available to the competent authorities on demand — and shall have in place systems and procedures to identify the other businesses to which their products have been supplied, this information shall be made available to the competent authorities on demand.

In 2004, the FSAI undertook an audit intended to establish if operators in the fish, beef and poultry industries had in place a system of product traceability and recall. The audit also examined compliance with general labelling requirements — with particular reference to country of origin declarations.

In the course of the audit some 90 businesses, including some in the service and retail sectors, were visited. The findings indicated that traceability systems need improvement. Each proprietor was furnished with an inspector's report, which was also made available to the official agencies.

Given the small scale of the 2004 audit, it was not the intention of the FSAI to publish a report. However, the FSAI intends conducting a wider audit in conjunction with the official agencies, now that traceability is a legal requirement and will publish a comprehensive report in due course.

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