Written answers

Thursday, 14 May 2015

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Food Labelling

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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106. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he continues to be satisfied that labelling and traceability regulations, applicable throughout the European Union in respect of products originating within the Union or outside, continue to be observed in the spirit and the letter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19131/15]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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115. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which labelling of beef, lamb, pigmeat, poultry and fish products imported directly, or through other European Union or Third World countries, continues to comply with the most rigid labelling regimes applicable here and throughout the Europan Union; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19140/15]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 106 and 115 together.

Rules on the labelling of meat and meat products are laid down in EU legislation. For beef, compulsory labelling rules have been in place for many years, and require food business operators to label fresh, frozen or minced beef with specific information to enable the product to be traced back to the animals from which it was derived. This must include details of the slaughterhouse and de-boning hall in which the animal was processed, as well as the country in which it was born and reared.

In 2011 the European Union passed the Food Information for the Consumers (FIC), Regulation 1169/2011, which is applicable to all foods intended for the final consumer and including foods delivered to mass caterers. This Regulation has updated the requirements for consumer information and labelling in a number of areas. In particular, the FIC Regulation extends mandatory origin labelling to meats other than beef for the first time. The implementing provision is Commission Regulation No. 1337/2013, which introduced mandatory origin labelling for meat from pigs, poultry, sheep and goats with effect from the 1stApril 2015.  Under this regulation, labelling is required to identify the Member State or third country of rearing and the Member State or third country of slaughter for these meats. The term ‘Origin’ can also be used where the country/member state of birth is the same as the country of rearing and slaughter.

Ireland has been a strong proponent of such rules and I have signed into law a new Statutory Instrument No. 113 to ensure that the necessary provisions are in place to implement this mandatory labelling requirement in the state and a period of compliance building has now begun. In addition, my Department is liaising with the Department of Health with a view to extending the legislation to include “loose meats” e.g.: meat cuts that sold through butcher counters.

As the Deputy will also be aware, the Minister for Health has overall responsibility for general food labelling legislation. However, my Department and in the case of fish or fishery products, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, plays an important role in the labelling of food together with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). Under EU law primary responsibility for the safety and traceability of food placed in the market place lies with food business operators. The role of my Department is to verify compliance by the food business operators with this requirement.

Regulation (EC) No. 178 of 2002, which sets out the general principles and requirements of EU food law, stipulates, among other things, 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. Specifically in regard to traceability, the regulations require that food business operators must have systems in place to be able to identify any person from whom they have been supplied with a food. They must also have a system in place to identify the other businesses to which their product has been supplied. In other words a food business operator at each and every stage in the food chain must be able to identify the source of its inputs as well as having details of the first recipient of its output. This is commonly referred to as the “one step forward one step backward” traceability system. There are additional traceability requirements for certain fishery and aquaculture products under the Control Regulation (Regulation 1224/2009 and its Implementing Regulation 404/2011) from first sale to subsequent stages of production, processing and distribution up to retail.

My Department has a permanent veterinary presence at all its approved slaughter plants. Controls at stand-alone secondary processing plants are carried out at a frequency which is based on an annual risk assessment for each plant. An annual audit of imported products is carried out in each Department approved meat plant. The audit includes physical identity, labelling and documentary checks for 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.

The import of products of animal origin from third countries is governed by a comprehensive and robust legislative framework laid down at EU level, controlled by EU Member States in the first instance, and audited by the European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office (FVO), to ensure compliance with all of the relevant food safety standards. The legislation imposes a series of health and supervisory requirements, designed to ensure that imported products meet standards at least equivalent to those required for production in, and trade between Member States.

Import controls on products of animal origin, including fish and fishery products, arriving from third countries must be performed at an EU Border Inspection Post approved for that category of product being presented. Consignments for import requiring veterinary checks must be notified in advance to the Border Inspection Post of import and presented on arrival for checks with all the appropriate documentation. Third countries exporting to the EU must be approved to export fishery products to the EU and these countries are subject to audit by the Commission’s FVO.

Border Inspection Posts in Ireland are operated by my Department. The import controls procedures on products of animal and fish origin are highly prescriptive and strictly audited by the FVO to ensure compliance. Reports of the findings of inspections are published on the FVO's website.

In order to import fish or fishery products into Ireland from a non-EU country the person who wishes to import fish/fishery products is required to register with the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA).  The SFPA and the Border Inspection Posts operate an agreed sampling plan, which is reviewed annually, to ensure that they meet the EU criteria with respect to potential contaminants, and for the presence of any medical residues or where there is concern that the product may not be fit for human consumption.

Specific requirements for consumer information for fishery and aquaculture products such as more detailed information on provenance are also set down in EU Regulations under (EU 1379/2013) on the common organisation of markets. The Regulations on fish labelling are enforced by the SFPA as part of ongoing official controls in food establishments under their supervision. Comprehensive labelling checks including country of origin are carried out in establishments under SFPA official control as part of routine inspections by authorised SFPA officers and at retail level by the Environmental Officers.

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