Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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259. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will introduce legislation to ensure pig products must denote country of origin on the label. [7804/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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My Department’s role on labelling of products is focussed on ensuring that such labelling conforms to a number of regulatory requirements such as mandatory country of origin labelling (COOL) where it applies to food products on sale in retail outlets here.

In 2011 the European Union passed the Food Information to Consumers (FIC), Regulation 1169/2011, which has updated the requirements for consumer information and labelling in a number of areas, and extended mandatory country of origin to meats other than beef.

Following on from the requirements of the FIC, Commission Regulation No. 1337/2013 introduced mandatory origin labelling for packaged meat products from pigs, poultry, sheep and goats from 1 April 2015.  This provides for mandatory labelling of 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. A Statutory Instrument was prepared by my Department to ensure that the necessary provisions were in place to implement this mandatory labelling requirement from 1 April 2015 and it is now fully in force.

My colleague, the Minister for Health, has overall responsibility for the general food labelling legislation and new EU food information regulations which were adopted by the Council of Health Ministers in December 2011. However, my Department plays a  role in the enforcement of this legislation under service contract to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.  My Department has assisted our colleagues in the Department of Health in the drafting of a new Statutory Instrument to bring the labelling of loose pigmeat, poultry meat and sheepmeat into line with the origin labelling rules for packaged meat brought in on April 1st 2015. This requires businesses who sell meat loose in their premises to clearly identify the country of rearing and slaughter of the animal from which the meat is derived. The draft SI has been finalised and my Department has placed it on the Technical Regulation Information System for notification to all EU Member States under the World Trade Organisations technical barriers to trade systems.  Following on from completion of these standstill periods I would hope that the SI will be in a position to be signed by my colleague the Minister for Health.