Written answers

Wednesday, 25 January 2006

Department of Agriculture and Food

Food Labelling

8:00 pm

Photo of Pat BreenPat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 1011: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food her plans to compel pork producers to provide country of origin information for their produce and to instigate a public awareness campaign highlighting the existence of the Bord Bia Origin Ireland logo; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1725/06]

Photo of Mary CoughlanMary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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An enabling provision to allow for the extension of our comprehensive beef labelling regulations to require operators in the hotel, restaurant and catering sectors to provide country of origin information to their customers on the beef they serve is at present before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Department is well advanced in drafting the necessary beef regulations. While the regulations will need to be submitted for EU approval, it is hoped that this process will not delay the making of the final regulations.

I have also written to the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection requesting that consideration be given to extending the rules in regard to origin labelling of poultry meat. This is a follow up to my having raised the issue in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council some months ago.

The proposed enabling legislation currently before the House will facilitate the extension of origin labelling to pigmeat, as well as other meats. However, all the regulations that would be necessary will be subject to EU approval.

The Department of Agriculture and Food ensures that primary producers and the food industry pursue high standards of food safety and quality. Only food produced to the highest standards of food safety and quality should be placed on the market. Responsibility for meeting these standards rests primarily with the industry itself, with the role of the regulatory authorities being to provide assurances required by law.

In Ireland, there are a number of voluntary quality assurance schemes in the food sector offering additional assurances of quality. Bord Bia operates such schemes in the beef, pigmeat, horticulture, poultry and egg sectors. The schemes describe the essential quality assurance requirements from primary production right through to the final consumer. In 2003, the European Commission agreed to a change in the Bord Bia quality assurance scheme logo used on pork and bacon to include an indication of the country of origin. This logo provides consumers with an assurance that all pork and bacon carrying the logo is sourced from quality assured farms and with information on the country of origin.

It is the policy of Bord Bia to encourage the use of the new quality assurance scheme logo on eligible products, and a range of promotional activities to increase consumer awareness of the logo has been undertaken in recent years. In 2005, this involved a combination of television, radio, press and outdoor advertising combined with point of sale material in retail outlets. All Bord Bia pigmeat promotions display the logo. A recent national consumer awareness survey indicated that two thirds of the population are now aware of the quality assurance scheme logo. The promotional activity in this regard will continue throughout the coming year.

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