Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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1441. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which traceability and country of origin labelling continues in respect of all food and food products imported, including imports from third countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28433/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Since 1999, responsibility for the enforcement of food legislation is vested in the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). The Authority co-ordinates the work of its official agencies through service contracts which specify the food sectors to be supervised, the types of controls to be provided, including inspections and laboratory analysis. The main official agencies under contract to the FSAI are the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Local Authorities and the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority.

The system of official controls includes checks on all imported foods, including compliance with traceability and country of origin labelling requirements. Imports of food of animal origin are the subject of specific authorisations before they can be placed on the market in Ireland or the EU for which controls at import are carried out by DAFM. Imports of foods of non-animal origin are subject to compliance with all relevant EU rules for which controls at import are carried out by the HSE.

Primary responsibility for compliance with food law rests with the food business operator (FBO). Traceability as a legal obligation for every FBO was introduced in 2002 by Regulation EC No. 178/2002 on the general principles of food law.

Each FBO must be able to identify from whom they have been supplied with a food or any substance intended to be, or expected to be, incorporated into a food. They must also have in place systems and procedures to identify the other businesses to which their products have been supplied. This information shall be made available to the competent authorities on demand. In addition, foods of animal origin must come from approved premises and the identity number of that premises within and outside the EU must be indicated.

The general rules on traceability have been augmented since 2002, with additional requirements being introduced for specific foods. For instance under European Parliament and Council Reg. 1760/2000, 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 under the remit of DAFM. There are two elements to the beef labelling regime which apply to all parts of the supply chain namely a compulsory system, which requires FBOs to label their beef products with certain prescribed information, the country of the slaughterhouse and approval number, the country of the cutting hall and approval number and the origin of the beef. This information must be present up to and including the point of sale to the consumer. A voluntary system covers any other labelling claim that processors or retailers wish to make concerning the origin, characteristics or production methods of the beef they supply.

In 2011, the European Union passed a new Regulation on Food Information for the Consumers (FIC Regulation No.1169/2011) which updates the requirements for consumer information and labelling in a number of areas, including in relation to country of origin labelling (COOL). In general, under this rule, information provided with food must not be misleading as to, inter alia, its country of origin or place of provenance.

Commission Regulation No. 1337/2013 introduced mandatory origin labelling for meat from pigs, poultry, sheep and goats from 1st April 2015. This Implementing Regulation provides for mandatory labelling by the Member State or third country of rearing and slaughter for these meats. There are also specific rules applying to fish whereby information on the catchment area and species must be provided.

DAFM is planning to extend origin labelling rules to non-prepacked meat products via national measures. A DAFM Working Group, with membership drawn from the Department of Health, the FSAI and the HSE, is currently considering the introduction of a Statutory Instrument to bring the labelling of loose pig meat and poultry meat into line with the origin labelling rules for packaged meat brought in on April 1st 2015. This will require 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 empowerment to adopt national measures is being facilitated by the Department of Health through Section 54(1)(d) of the Health Act 1947 as DAFM does not have such empowering legislation.