Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 72: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the action she is taking to end the fraudulent and dangerous practise of agricultural produce being imported and labelled in restaurants or in processing as Irish products in view of an FSAI report being known to her Department for over a year now. [12171/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The report to which the Deputy refers was an internal report of the FSAI on an audit to determine compliance with labelling and traceability requirements. The FSAI undertook this audit to determine whether food business operators in the fish, beef and poultry industries have in place a system of product traceability and recall. The FSAI copied to my Department the findings in the report that relate specifically to premises that come within its remit. The veterinary inspectorate in my Department examined each of the issues identified in the report and all of them have been addressed to the satisfaction of the FSAI.

As regards imports the position is that imported meat and meat products must be sourced from establishments that are approved and must bear a EU approved health mark. Exporting establishments must have: standards equivalent to the requirements for EU export establishments; effective control systems and supervision by the competent authorities; traceability-labelling in accordance with the systems approved by the EU's Food and Veterinary Office, FVO, and accepted and notified to the EU member states.

The FVO carries out inspections to ensure that only establishments that meet hygiene and health standards equivalent to those operating within the EU are approved. Where the FVO considers that public health requirements are not being met, an establishment may be removed from the EU approved list. If outbreaks of animal diseases occur in a third country approval to export to the EU is suspended for the infected regions of the country, or the whole country, as appropriate, until the disease risk has been eliminated. There are safeguard measures in operation suspending export of beef from regions of Brazil and Argentina where outbreaks of foot and mouth disease have occurred. Safeguard measures controlling the import of poultry and poultry products have also been adopted in respect of outbreaks of avian influenza in third countries.

Imported meat and meat products must be accompanied by the appropriate commercial documentation showing country and approval number of the establishment of production and a health certificate conforming to the models set down in EU legislation.

While there is free movement for trade within the EU all consignments from third countries must first be landed at a border inspection post, BIP, approved by the FVO and there must undergo documentary, identity and physical checks. These latter are carried out at frequencies laid down in EU law. In Ireland BIPs approved for the processing of imports of meat are located at Dublin Port and Shannon Airport. The FVO carries out monitoring and inspection of each member state's BIPs to ensure the conditions for import of animal products into Europe, provided under the harmonized legislation, are being correctly applied.

Once it has been established that imported meat and meat product has met all the required conditions it is released for free circulation within the Community. Copies of the BIP clearance document and the health certificate must accompany the consignment to its destination. Imports failing to comply with these veterinary control checks may be detained for further examination. If non-compliance is established they are returned to the exporting country or destroyed.

As regards labelling, an enabling provision to allow for the extension of existing comprehensive beef labelling regulations to include a requirement for information on the country of origin of beef to be provided to the consumer at the point of choice, by establishments in the retail, restaurant and catering sectors, including food business operators, has recently been enacted by way of amendment to section 54 of the 1947 Health Act through the Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. This will be commenced by a commencement order in the near future.

My Department is well advanced in drafting the consequential beef regulations which will be required and is currently in consultation with the Department of Health and Children and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland on the details including enforcement. While the regulations will then have to be submitted for EU approval, it is hoped that this process will not delay the making of the final regulations. In the meantime, the representative bodies for hotels, restaurants and pubs have agreed to recommend to their members to provide the information on a voluntary basis.