Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 673: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if food sold here is required to include the country of origin on the label; the relevant legislation or regulation; the procedures that are taken if food is mislabelled; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12672/10]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister for Health and 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.). This is done through service contracts with other relevant agencies, including the Health Service Executive, the Local Authority Veterinary Service and my Department.

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. Any evidence of contravention of this requirement should be brought to the attention of the F.S.A.I. .

As far as my Department is concerned, labelling checks are carried out as part of routine official checks at meat plants where there is a permanent presence of DAFF Veterinary or Technical staff. Checks are conducted on a random, risk based frequency and cover labelling, traceability /origin, identification of cattle, labelling of carcasses, meat, minced meat and meat products.