Written answers
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Department of Agriculture and Food
Food Labelling
4:00 pm
Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 53: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the action he is taking to regulate the labelling of food as Irish when anecdotal evidence suggests that tenuous connections to Ireland are being used to avail of such. [12037/10]
Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister for Health & Children has overall responsibility for the general food labelling legislation. Responsibility for the enforcement of this legislation rests with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (F.S.A.I.). Under the general labelling Directive (2000/13/EC), the place of origin of the foodstuff must be given if its absence might mislead the consumer to a material degree. It should also be noted that any evidence of contravention of this requirement should be brought to the attention of the F.S.A.I.
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 considered by the EU Council of Health Ministers in due course. Bord Bia`s Quality Assurance Schemes for products such as beef, lamb and horticulture are well known and provide information on origin to consumers.
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