Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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231. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he intends to insist on the fattening country on labels, along with birth country/country of origin for all beef products entering Ireland so that consumers can make ethical choice, in relation to for example, rain forest cleared land. [23461/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Food production and labelling in EU Member States operates in accordance with harmonised rules. Regarding beef, in particular, there are comprehensive regulations governing the identification of bovines and the labelling of their meat. These provisions were introduced in the wake of the BSE crisis to improve traceability.

In general, all fresh, frozen or minced beef marketed in the EU (with the exception of offal) is subject to a mandatory system of origin traceability and origin labelling. The purpose of these rules is to ensure that beef on sale can be traced back to the animal or group of animals from which it came.

There are two elements to the beef labelling regime which apply to all parts of the supply chain; the compulsory system, which requires food business operators to label their beef products (unless cooked or processed) with certain prescribed information up to and including the point of sale to the consumer; and the voluntary system, which covers any other labelling claim that processors or retailers wish to make concerning the origin, characteristics or production methods of the beef they are supplying. The claims made on product labels, marketing material or point of sale notices must be clear and cannot be misleading.

The rules already require that beef labels indicate the country or countries where the animal (or group of animals) from which it was derived was born, reared and slaughtered. Where beef is derived from an animal (or group of animals) born, reared or slaughtered in a single country, this information may be grouped together under the heading ‘Origin:’ followed by the name of the relevant Member State or third country.