Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 201: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the implementation of country of origin labelling will be passed into Irish law; if he has received correspondence from a group (details supplied) in this regard; the action he will take to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8214/09]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I have received representations from the named group in relation to country of origin. The Minister for Health & Children has overall responsibility for the general food labelling legislation. Under the general labelling Directive (2000/13/EC), the place of origin of the foodstuff must be given only if its absence might mislead the consumer to a material degree. The European Commission is currently undertaking a major review of all food labelling legislation. In this context the Commission has prepared draft revised labelling regulations and these are being discussed at Council Working Party level in Brussels. These draft regulations will be submitted to the EU Council of Health Ministers during 2009.

Notwithstanding the outcome of the current review on origin labelling my Department had taken steps to try to introduce origin labelling for meats other than beef, which is already subject to specific legislation since September 2000. It should be noted that there are EU Regulations, which provide for the labelling of unprocessed poultry meat at retail level. The Regulations require such poultry meat to be labelled with the information regarding class, price, condition, registered number of slaughterhouse or cutting plant and, where imported from a Third Country, an indication of country of origin.

My Department, in conjunction with the Department of Health and Children, drafted regulations that would require the country of origin to be indicated on pigmeat, poultry and sheepmeat. This was notified to the EU Commission in December 2007 as required by legislation. The Commission was not prepared to adopt the draft regulations in their present format on the grounds that the proposed legislation is not in compliance with EU food labelling regulations. The Commission's main contention is that only harmonised rules with EU-wide applicability may be applied to food labelling other than in exceptional circumstances. In March, the EU Commission delivered a negative opinion on the regulations but afforded Ireland an opportunity to provide further information in support of them. In the meantime, the Department provided additional details including the current misleading labelling practices and evidence of consumers' desire for country of origin labelling. However the EU Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health formally adopted the negative opinion in December 2008.

We will continue to pursue this issue at EU level in the context of the current review. It should also be noted that products carrying the Bord Bia quality assurance label provide consumers with assurance on product origin.