Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 468: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is satisfied regarding the availability of the testing and traceability facilities available for all foods for human consumption, animal feed stuffs or other facilities required in connection with national or EU legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26401/09]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Regulation (EC) No. 178 of 2002, which sets out the general principles and requirements of food law, stipulates inter alia, that food business operators at all stages of production, processing and distribution within the businesses under their control must ensure that foods satisfy the requirements of food law and that these requirements are met. One such requirement is that the operator must have systems in place to be able to identify any person from whom they have been supplied with food or feed, including ingredients used to produce a food or feed product. They must also have a system in place to identify other businesses to which their product has been supplied. Accordingly, responsibility for tracing food and feed products rests with the Food and Feed Business Operator. The controls carried out by official agencies on food safety rests with a number of Departments including my own. The testing of certain food products to comply with EU legislation requirements is carried out at my Department's laboratories or where necessary by outsourcing. The majority of testing of animal feed is carried out by the State Laboratory. Where the State laboratory is not in a position to carry out certain tests, it arranges outsourcing to other accredited laboratories.