Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline the procedures in place regarding the slaughtering of horses here where the horse meat is subsequently exported; the control mechanisms that are in place in relation to the traceability of this horse meat if it is imported back into Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6915/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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All slaughter plants which are approved under the relevant EU food safety regulations, known collectively as the ‘Hygiene Package’, are entitled to export the meat they produce. EU law provides for the free movement of goods between Member States. On that basis, meat and meat products, such as horsemeat, produced in an approved establishment, can be moved freely within the EU. Responsibility for compliance with EU food safety and traceability requirements rests in the first instance with food business operators (FBOs). FBOs must have a system in place to identify the source of inputs and destination of outputs (commonly referred to as “one step forward and one step back”).

The regulatory requirements are designed to ensure that meat produced in approved slaughter plants is suitable for human consumption. The same legislation applies across the EU and the same controls will apply if horsemeat is imported back into Ireland.

All equines (which include horses, ponies and donkeys) are required to be identified in accordance with EU and national legislation. An equine for slaughter for human consumption must be accompanied to the slaughterhouse by its passport. The passport includes information on any veterinary medicines administered to equines. The information on the passport determines whether the animal can be slaughtered for human consumption.

My Department has detailed procedures for the slaughter of horses in abattoirs under its supervision and has communicated these and the checks required both to its staff and the business operators. It has liaised with passport issuing agencies in Ireland and has developed protocols to allow abattoir operators to check the details of passports with these agencies to seek to ensure that they are valid and that only those horses eligible for slaughter are slaughtered. Where forged or tampered passports accompanying horses to slaughter are detected, it is the policy that such animals are destroyed and removed from the food chain.

An annual audit of meat products is carried out in each Department approved meat plant. The audit includes physical identity, labelling and documentary checks. This includes product originating both in EU Member States and third countries. In addition, labelling and documentary checks form part of the routine checks conducted by Department officials.