Vol. 556 No. 5
7 Mr. McHugh asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will introduce legislation to ensure that the high standards required of Irish producers and processors are applied to all imports and that testing control and traceability requirements are applied to imported produce with regular reporting and publication of the testing carried out and the results obtained; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20705/02]
Rules concerning animal and public health controls on imports of animal products into EU member states are, in the main, laid down at EU level. These harmonised control measures, together with inspections and reports carried out by the EU's food and veterinary office, are designed to ensure that such imports come from establishments and countries that meet hygiene and health standards equivalent to those operating within the EU.
Products of animal origin may only be imported into the EU from premises which have been approved by the European Commission. In cases where the food and veterinary office is not satisfied that public health requirements are being met, countries and premises may be removed from the EU approved list by Commission decision.
In addition, EU law requires that animal-based products imported from third countries must be processed through a border inspection post in the first EU member state into which they are introduced. Such products must be accompanied by appropriate veterinary health certification issued by the authorities in the country from which they are exported and are subject to identity and documentary checks. A proportion of such imports are subjected to physical checks, which may include sampling and analysis. These are routine operational matters and it is not normally the practice to report on them.
The EU Commission may, from time to time, require additional checks on particular products from particular countries of origin where there is specific cause for concern. One of the recent examples of such a decision is the current Commission decision requiring member states to test all consignments of poultry meat and certain fisheries products from Thailand for nitrofurans, a substance which is banned in the European Union. Where circumstances warrant it, the Commission may make a decision to ban such imports altogether. My Department is rigorous in the application of EU rules in relation to all such imports.
Testing carried out in line with safeguard measures is reported to the European Commission and displayed on its rapid alert system. This is a mechanism for advising member states of action to be taken with regard to contaminated products.
On the question of personal imports, the Minister introduced Statutory Instrument 390 in July 2002 to ensure that only animal products that meet relevant EU and national legislation can be imported into Ireland in personal baggage. Products which do not conform to the relevant rules are seized and sent for immediate destruction.
Does the Minister accept there is a problem in terms of the speed at which tests can be carried out on produce, either home grown or imported, where the GM status of the produce is in doubt or bogus labelling claims have to be examined? Does he accept that in the area of investigating, for example, potato varieties, it is absolutely useless to send samples to Donegal to have them grown and then verified within a number of months, particularly as laboratories exist that can do genetic testing within 100 yards of the Department of Agriculture and Food? Does he accept there is a need for the Department to update its procedures so that testing can be done quickly and effectively and in time for the market and farmers' interests to be protected?
Will the Minister confirm if there is individual traceability on imports here from outside the EU? I refer, in particular, to beef imports from South America? Will the Minister confirm that he is satisfied from a health and safety point of view that beef that comes on the Irish market from outside the EU is safe for consumption?
Consumer confidence was dented to a large extent during the summer on account of the import of a number of products that were shown to be sub-standard. Is the Minister aware that the food standard agency in the UK has recently advised border inspection post officials that Brazilian poultry meat should be tested and detained until the results come back from the laboratories? We need more than documentation, we need testing and, if necessary, quarantine of these products until the results are available.
Is the Minister aware that all kinds of substances are being used in the US and other markets from where we source products? Is he satisfied that all the meat we import is traceable, be it chicken, beef or whatever, and that we can prove that hormones or other substances have not been used in their production?
I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Aylward, well in his first Question Time since he came to the Department. I have received anecdotal evidence in recent weeks regarding young children suffering from blood pressure that may have resulted from hormones in certain foods. This is an area of grave concern and one we hope to follow up in the agriculture committee. There is much anxiety about imported foodstuffs from non-EU countries and I urge the Minister to put it at the top of his agenda.
I accept that no matter what guidelines are in operation they can all be improved upon. I outlined the five areas of strict regulation that are operated here and within the EU and there are other controls that pertain here also. Advance notice of imports must be made to the Department by means of a VET 1 form. All importers are required to be registered with the Department and all products of animal origin must be prepared and stored in an approved establishment. All consignments undergo an identity and documentary check. I will not go through all the regulations but there is a full list available.
In reference to the question in regard to the UK, we have thankfully had only one experience of problems with fishery products from Thailand and Brazil. Only one consignment of Thai chicken proved positive for any substance and it was destroyed. It had been cleared through a border inspection post in the UK. The Department notified the UK chief veterinary office of the incident and assurances were received that in future all consignments of poultry meat cleared through the UK border inspection post would be tested.
I take on board what Deputy Timmins said in regard to the committee on agriculture and we will certainly follow up recommendations that come from it. The Minister established the food labelling committee in July this year to examine issues in regard to the labelling of food, including the matter of origin. In this regard we are anxious that consumers get the most comprehensive information possible on the food supply thereby enabling them to exercise their rights abut which food product they wish to buy. The 19 member expert group which is representative of all the major stakeholders in the food chain, including the FSAI, has been examining these issues since its inaugural meeting on 29 August. I was informed today that the group is on course to complete its report by the end of this month and I expect it will include recommendations on compulsory labelling of origin within the EU legislative framework.
That concludes Question Time.
