Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 236: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a case to the EU Commission to strengthen the labelling regulations governing origin of seafood following the court cases on the issue of origin of smoked salmon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20364/09]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The issue of labelling of fisheries products is 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.

The cases referred to by the Deputy relate in the first instance to a case brought against a company for breach of the regulations which was ultimately 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 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 northeast 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.

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.