Written Answers. - Food Safety Measures.
Ivor Callely
Question:
100
Mr. Callely
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
the measures under consideration to sustain and improve consumer confidence in the quality and safety of indigenous food products; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[7895/01]
I understand that in the context of this question, indigenous food products are food products that are native to Ireland.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland was formally established as an independent statutory body on the 1 January 1999 under the Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act, 1998. The Food Safety Authority is a major catalyst for changing the food safety culture in Ireland. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland is an independent agency whose function is to ensure that food produced, marketed or distributed within the State meets the highest standards of food safety and hygiene. The authority was the first in Europe to be set up with this independent status – independent of industry and sectoral interests, an independence which is very important to consumers.
There are currently 1,900 professionals engaged, either full time or part time, in the food control services, working to protect consumer health. A major function of the authority is to co-ordinate the efforts of these professionals to maintain the highest standards of safety and hygiene. The authority has welded together all the separate agencies and organisations into one unified, focused structure dedicated to ensuring the highest possible standards of food safety and food hygiene in partnership with all those involved in the food chain.
Responsibility for and ownership of excellence and standards primarily and ultimately lies with those involved in the food chain. This involves farmers, processors, retailers, caterers and consumers. The authority is working in partnership with every sector in the food chain to develop awareness of the importance of good practice, the controls to be applied and the risks to be managed.
If Ireland is to succeed and prosper as a food producing nation, with consumers at home and abroad confident in the safety and wholesomeness of our food, then the production of safe, quality food has to be of the highest priority.
The Government recognises that customer confidence, both at home and abroad, in Irish food products needs to be paramount. We in Ireland must be in a position to give independent and verifiable assurances as to the quality and purity of our food products. For this reason, the Government established the authority as a statutory, independent and science-based body, overseeing all functions relating to the food safety regulation of the food industry. This model is being followed in the European context, where the European Food Authority is being set up by the European Commission on a similar basis.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland co-ordinates a national food surveillance programme in collaboration with the health boards where foods in the retail market are sampled and analysed for safety by the public analyst laboratories and the food microbiology laboratories. Pesticide and veterinary drug residues in foods in the retail market are monitored by the specialist laboratories of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. Food producing premises are regularly inspected by the official agents of the authority for compliance with food regulations. The authority is also working with private food industry to develop codes of practice to ensure that the best standards of quality and hygiene are applied in the production of food products in Ireland.
I have been advised by my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Deputy Walsh, that Bord Bia currently operates quality assurance schemes in three areas, namely, beef, pigmeat and eggs. In addition, parameters have been agreed for a quality assurance scheme for lamb and, more recently, Bord Bia has been in dialogue with poultry processors and producers regarding a scheme for that sector. The schemes are structured to the highest international standards and ensure full traceability along the production chain. In view of the importance attaching to quality assurance schemes and the need to enhance consumer and customer credibility through independent verification in accordance with internationally recognised standards, a new Bord Bia subsidiary board for quality assurance has been established with the dual function of overseeing the operation of the board's quality assurance schemes and of certifying schemes in accordance with EN45011.
According to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Deputy Walsh, the national beef assurance scheme was launched in mid-1997 with a view to guaranteeing the safety of Irish beef and beef products in line with consumer demands and to restoring consumer confidence in the wake of recent food scares, notably the BSE crisis.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Deputy Walsh, further states that the scheme has three main elements: the development of transparent and integrated production and processing protocols applicable to all parties in the food chain; the enforcement of these protocols through a registration and approval process covering the entire industry; and the provision of an effective bovine animal identification and tracing system, enhancing the identification and tracing systems already in place.
The national beef assurance scheme was established on a statutory basis on 15 March 2000. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Deputy Walsh, has stated that An Bord Glas operates a quality auditing scheme for horticultural food products. The scheme establishes high standards of quality and hygiene for the production, handling, storage and marketing of produce.
Quality assurance schemes were highlighted in 1999 by the report of the Food Industry Development Group which said that the food industry will maximise its potential through attention to competitiveness and market orientation and that development must be underpinned by attention to food safety, quality standards and quality assurance.
The Minister, Deputy Walsh, has also advised me of the food quality assurance schemes review group which was established in February 2000 with the following terms of reference: to review schemes currently in operation in the light of future requirements of consumers and the food industry; to examine the accreditation procedures applying to each scheme; and to make appropriate recommendations as to how greater coherence and clarity might be brought to the whole area of quality assurance.
The group presented its report in December 2000 and I understand that the recommendations made are currently under review.
