Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 264: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the extent to which all imported food and food products are checked and tested here to ensure compliance with national and European health and traceability standards; if he can give an assurance that no such products are exempt from such tests or scrutiny; the action he proposes to take to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5299/09]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is responsible for the operation of EU controls on imports of products of animal origin and fresh fruit and vegetables under its service contract with the FSAI and in compliance with Community rules for the hygiene of food and feed.

The EU rules stipulate that food products of animal origin imported from an EU source must be from approved food business establishments and be accompanied to destination by a commercial document or a health certificate signed by an official veterinarian of the competent authority of the Member State of origin.

In the case of importation from third countries products of animal origin for human consumption must have originated in a country approved by the EU for trade in such products, have been produced in an approved establishment (with the exception of honey), be appropriately labelled and transported and must be accompanied by a veterinary health certificate in accordance with the models laid down by Community legislation. Consignments from third countries must be landed at an EU approved Border Inspection Post (BIP) approved by the Food and Veterinary Office of the EU (FVO) for veterinary checks. In co-operation with Customs services my Department undertakes a range of checks on imported consignments including documentary, identity and physical including the sampling of imported products for analysis under national residue monitoring programmes and EU safeguard measures.

The scope of products of animal origin coming under these requirements are set out under Commission Decision No. 2007/275/EC11 Official Journal of the European Communities No. L116 of 4.5.2007 which also provides for an exemption from border inspection in the case of certain composite and specified food products comprising processed low risk processed animal products and plant products. Details of the products are set out in the Decision. Such products must comply with public health requirements for their placing on to the market. Consignments of animal products must remain under Customs control until the BIP has authorised entry into the EU.

Any imports failing to comply with these veterinary control checks may be detained for further examination. Where non-compliance is established they are returned to the exporting country or destroyed. Where there are risks to animal and public health, and in cases of animal disease outbreaks, the Community adopts safeguard measures that ban or restrict imports from affected countries or areas until the risks have been removed.

The FVO monitors and inspects each Member State's controls on Food Safety including the operation of BIPs to ensure the conditions for import and placing of animal products on to the market, as provided under the harmonized legislation, are being correctly applied.

Imported fruit and vegetables are checked for compliance with EU marketing standards. Apart from quality criteria these standards also set down strict provisions regarding labelling, including country of origin. There are currently 36 specific marketing standards. Regulation (EC) No 1221/2008 will, with effect from 1 July 2009, reduce the number of specific standards to ten but all fruit and vegetables will be required to satisfy the EU's general marketing standard. Controls on the import of food of non-animal origin comes under the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive.