Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 340: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food his views on changing EC Regulation 1198/2006 regarding the definition of farmed fish; if he is satisfied that under the terms of the regulation, no farmed fish are being labelled as wild and that consumer interests are adequately protected by this regulation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14502/09]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I believe the present labelling legislation does indeed provide the necessary strength to protect consumers with regard to the labelling of fishery products.

The regulation referred to by the deputy deals with the establishment of the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) and defines the framework for Community support for the sustainable development of the fisheries sector, fisheries areas and inland fishing. The issue of labelling of fisheries products is, however, governed by S.I. No. 320 of 2003 which gives effect to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 104/2000 and to Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2065/2001 laying down the conditions for informing consumers about fishery and aquaculture products.

The Regulations set out the specific information required on the label where fishery products are sold at retail level to consumers. In addition, for the purposes of traceability, this information must be included on the commercial documents for the fishery products throughout the marketing chain, such as during processing, at wholesale level and for use by mass caterers.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) have a primary role in the enforcement of these regulations and have published a guidance note on the labelling of Fishery and Aquaculture Products which is available on their website. The guide specifically details the labelling and packaging requirements for fishery and aquaculture products and may be consulted for a more detailed guide to the legislation.

In brief the labelling requirements of the Regulations apply only to raw fish and aquaculture products to which no other ingredients have been added (except salt). This includes live fish, fresh fish, chilled and frozen fish, fish fillets and other fish meat (whether minced or not), dried fish, salted or brined fish, smoked fish (whether hot or cold smoked fish), crustaceans (except those which are both cooked and peeled), molluscs (except when cooked). Each label is required to indicate where the "wild fish" was caught at sea and in the case of aquaculture products where they were "farmed" or "cultivated".

Recently a case brought against a company for breach of the regulations was dismissed, not for salmon labelling issues but because the judge felt that the evidence put before her did not adequately prove that the salmon was farmed as set out in European Council Regulation 1198/2006. I understand that FSAI and Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) are reviewing the case in its totality and the implications arising, I await their findings.

In another case brought against the same company, they admitted falsely describing fish as being "caught at sea" when they were in fact farmed and declaring that particular fish were caught in the north-east Atlantic Ocean when they were in fact captured in Norway.

I take these instances as evidence that the FSAI are active in their role of protecting consumers from misleading labelling. I also believe that the legislation is robust enough to support this. Potential damage to Ireland by companies trying to manipulate legislation to gain some sort of competitive advantage must be prevented and any such activities will not be condoned.

In the overall context, I would favour strengthening of the current labelling EU Regulations to ensure that there is more information available to the consumer. I am particularly interested in ensuring that the consumer has enough information to understand where fish have been caught. It should enable the consumer to make an informed choice and I will be pursuing these issues at EU level.