Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 115: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the discussions she has had with the catering industry to promote compliance with the requirement to label beef with the country of origin at catering level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40524/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The responsibility for implementation of the Health (Country of Origin of Beef) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 307 of 2006) lies with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). There are over 44,000 food businesses in Ireland of which 29,000 are in the service sector. This includes restaurants, hotels and pubs. During the preparation of the regulations my Department had extensive discussions with the representative bodies for hotels, restaurants and pubs who did not have any practical difficulties with the regulations.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 116: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the steps she is taking to extend country of origin labelling in the catering trade to lamb, pigmeat and chicken; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40468/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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All beef sold or served in the retail or catering sector is now required by law to carry an indication of country of origin. There are EU Regulations which provide for the labelling of unprocessed poultry meat at retail level. The information which these regulations require on the label includes the registered number of the slaughterhouse or cutting plant and, where imported from a Third Country, an indication of country of origin. There are no specific EU regulations governing the labelling of pigmeat or sheepmeat beyond the general food labelling regulations which do not require "country of origin" information.

The general EU food labelling regulations covering all food sold in Ireland require that the information be given clearly, accurately and in a language understood by the consumer. Among these requirements is origin marking in cases where failure to provide such information would be likely to mislead the consumer to a material degree. This legislation comes under the remit of the Department of Health and Children.

The primary legislation enacted by the Oireachtas in March of this year, under which our beef labelling requirements on country of origin were extended to the catering sector also allows for the extension of country of origin labelling to other meats. However, because different origin labelling requirements apply to other meats in the retail sector under current EU legislation and there are also different systems of traceability as well as some import/export complexities, it is not as straightforward as it is for beef. The European Commission has opposed Member States introducing legislation in this area that is in excess of common EU requirements. Nonetheless, my Department has recently commenced consultations with the Department of Health and Children on draft new regulations to require operators in the retail and catering sectors to provide country of origin information on poultrymeat, pigmeat and sheepmeat. It is my intention to submit these regulations, when they are finalised, to the European Commission for approval as required by EU legislation.

Of course, the preferred way forward is that the Commission would progress the question of country of origin labelling of all meat at EU level. I wrote earlier this year to the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection on this subject. I also raised the issue in the Agriculture Council some months ago and will continue to take every opportunity to press for progress on this matter. I have used the opportunity provided by bilateral meetings with EU Ministerial colleagues to seek their support for EU action on Country of Origin Labelling and so far have been encouraged by their response.

The Health and Consumer Protection Directorate of the European Commission undertook a consultative process on a wide range of issues in this area earlier this year, under a document entitled Labelling: Competitiveness, Consumer Information and Better Regulation for the EU. I arranged for my Department to make a submission on food labelling and country of origin labelling of meat in particular to the Department of Health and Children, who co-ordinated the Irish contribution to this process.