Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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200. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the tolerance levels used in ingredients declarations on animal concentrate feed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56843/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is the competent authority with responsibility for enforcement of animal feed legislation in Ireland.

Regulation (EC) No. 767/2009 on the placing on the market and use of feed includes the general principle that the labelling and the presentation of feed shall not mislead the user. The legislation also sets down permitted tolerances for discrepancies between the labelled compositional values of a feed material or compound feed and the values analysed in official controls carried out by my Department.

Annex IV of Regulation (EC) No. 767/2009 sets down the permitted tolerances where the composition of a feed material or compound feed is found to depart from the labelled composition in a manner such as to reduce its value. The tolerances are given either as an absolute percentage value (this value must be subtracted from/added to the declared content) or as a relative value marked with ‘%’ after the value (this percentage must be applied to the declared content to calculate the acceptable deviation).

By way of example and having regard to Part A of Annex IV of Regulation (EC) No 767/2009, the permitted tolerance for a complementary feed for dairy cows with a declared crude protein content of 16% is 14-18%.

My Department continues to monitor compliance with Regulation (EC) No 767/2009 as part of its annual animal feed control programme.