Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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93. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the checks his Department has in place to prevent produce from stolen animals entering the food chain; the checks being operated to deal with stolen livestock being exported live; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27731/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department has a range of checks in place to prevent missing/stolen animals from entering the food chain or being presented for live export. In the event of an animal being stolen and a herd keeper reports the event to the Garda and the Department’s RVO, a copy of the Garda report and relevant details of the case are recorded on an NBAS24 form and forwarded to Animal Identification and Movement Division. The Division enters the record of 'stolen' animals and identification details on the Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) database in a dedicated missing/stolen category whereby the animal is designated with a missing/stolen notification referred to as E 800.

In the event that a stolen animal is presented at an outlet such as an export point, livestock mart or slaughter plant, the E800 designation alerts the staff there not to allow further movement of the animal and an investigation takes place into the background of the missing/stolen notification. The animal is not permitted to be moved or enter the food chain until the investigation is completed, the animal’s bona fides are established and the E800 designation is deleted.