I am pleased to introduce this important Bill in this important House. As a former Mem ber, whenever I get the opportunity, I like to introduce legislation in the Upper House to give its Members an opportunity to debate legislation first. It is important that the issue of food safety is debated and that the Bill is progressed through the Seanad to allow public debate during the summer and to send the strongest possible signal to our customers at home and abroad that we are serious about food safety. We export food to about 57 countries worldwide. I propose to adopt a generous attitude to amendments and expect the Bill to return to the Seanad having completed its passage through the Dáil.
This is a crucially important Bill. Its purpose is to streamline and strengthen existing controls and, in so doing, underpin the commercial trading infrastructure of the beef sector. It is landmark legislation.
Given that beef accounts for more than 40 per cent of Ireland's agricultural output and contributes to the livelihoods of up to 250,000 people, the sector has commanded a huge part of my attention and that of successive Ministers for Agriculture during the years, even more so since March 1996 when the explosion of the BSE crisis occurred in the United Kingdom. Leaving aside the economic damage, that seriously damaged the credibility of the sector, policy makers and scientists because consumers believed economic considerations took precedence over the protection of human health. More recently, we have seen the consequences in Belgium of the failure to deal swiftly and firmly with the dioxin scare.
The BSE and dioxin food scares are clear proof, if proof were needed, that the safeguarding of consumer confidence is crucial for the future of the food industry. That is the number one priority.
The environment in which food is produced has changed dramatically in the past ten years, possibly more than at any other time. Consumer expectations and standards have increased substantially and the demand is for demonstrably safe and wholesome food. The provision of a high level of public health protection has increasingly become a central focus for all Administrations at national and EU level. That is as it should be. Consumers should no longer have to make do with anything less than the highest of standards in the food they eat. They have a legitimate right to demand and expect food that is safe, wholesome, of high quality and produced under ultra hygienic conditions.
This change in focus has been most acute in the beef sector, particularly since the announcement in the House of Commons on 20 March 1996 of a possible link between BSE and CJD. While Ireland has had a minuscule number of BSE cases, considerable damage was done to the reputation of beef in general and as a consequence to Irish beef. Consumption fell dramatically and a number of third countries imposed trade restrictions on imports of EU and Irish beef. The consensus was that action had to be taken to address the situation.
At EU level, the Commission reorganised and expanded its control and inspection services in the food, veterinary and plant health sectors. These functions are discharged by the Food and Veterinary Office which is located in Ireland. The Commission has also established various scientific and advisory committees to assist in the formulation of policies to be pursued at EU level. A rapid food alert system has been put in place to provide early warning of food safety alerts to wholesalers and retailers.
At national level, the Government has established the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, as an independent agency with its own board and structure. Its chief executive, Dr. Pat Wall, has been doing an effective and professional job since his appointment. The authority has been given overall responsibility for the enforcement of legislative provisions in the area of food safety and hygiene and for the promotion of standards of good practice throughout all stages of food production, distribution and sale. Arrangements for the discharge of functions by the various agencies under contract to the authority have been put in place.
A range of initiatives has been introduced by the Department of Agriculture and Food. For example, regulations on animal identification and movements have been reinforced. At the end of last year I made regulations which reinforce the already rigorous measures in place to prevent the abuse of animal remedies. Food producers will end up in jail if they contravene these regulations. Official delegations have systematically visited a variety of international markets to provide detailed briefings on Ireland's stringent control measures with the aim of assisting the recovery of cattle and beef exports and ensuring market access. I have participated in a number of these.
While the overall situation for Irish beef has improved, a number of markets continue to be closed or partially closed to Irish beef. There has been a high level of renationalisation of the beef market within some EU countries. There is a need for comprehensive and all-embracing measures to allay consumer concerns and safeguard markets for Irish beef and beef products. It was against this background the Government approved the text of a Bill to provide a statutory basis for the national beef assurance scheme. This initiative is further evidence of our commitment to apply the highest food safety standards, starting with the beef sector.
The outline of the measures to be introduced under the scheme have been discussed extensively with the representatives of the main participants in the scheme, farmers, meat factories, marts, the animal feed trade and the food industry, to ensure the production of safer food, better controls and better assurances to consumers on food quality. While some concerns have been expressed, mainly on the costs of compliance with the scheme, there is general acceptance and support for a broadly based scheme which will pro vide reassurances to consumers and customers of Irish beef.
The Bill provides the statutory basis for a national beef assurance scheme, the purpose of which is the development of common standards for the production, processing and trade in Irish cattle and beef for human consumption and the manufacture and trade of feeding stuffs; the application of these standards through a system of registration, inspection and approval, and the enhancement of an animal identification and traceability system for Irish cattle.
The Bill applies to all persons engaged in the primary production and processing of Irish cattle and beef, that is, farmers engaged in cattle and beef production, cattle dealers, exporters of live cattle, livestock marts, slaughtering premises and establishments which otherwise process beef, and establishments which manufacture or trade feeding stuffs.
As the aim is to regulate primary production and processing many of its provisions, particularly those on registration, inspection and approval, will not apply to food businesses in the retail sector. That is not to say that such businesses will be excluded from the net of the national beef assurance scheme. This sector, which includes supermarkets, grocery stores and retail butcher shops, is already regulated under the food hygiene regulations operated under the control of the Minister for Health and Children, and these provisions will continue to be applied. Thus, it is not necessary to introduce a second tier of registrations, inspections and approval under this Bill. For farmers, factories and marts, we will have the national beef assurance scheme, while for the retail sector, including supermarkets and grocery stores, we have the food hygiene regulations operated under the aegis of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Cowen. It is, therefore, unnecessary to duplicate those measures.
The retail sector will be obliged, however, to ensure that when buying or receiving Irish beef from farmers and processors, it will deal only with persons approved under the scheme. Non-compliance with this provision will constitute an offence under the Bill and it is the intention to empower health boards to conduct inspections to ensure that this condition is met.
The Bill provides that only persons meeting the prescribed standards set out in the Second Schedule for the various categories of participants, will be approved to participate in the cattle, beef and feeding stuffs industry. The standards in question are contained in existing legislation for the most part and cover such matters as animal identification, health, remedies, feed, hygiene and hygiene practices as well as production and manufacturing practices, construction, maintenance and operation of premises and the environment, including pollution and waste control. There is, however, provision for the making of regulations to enhance existing arrangements and to address gaps in existing legislation, for example, in relation to the possession of, or tampering with, cattle ear tags and identity cards and the documentation of certain operational procedures in meat plants and elsewhere. Accordingly, while the Bill will tighten up the implementation of existing provisions, it will not impose any undue new legislative burden on participants.
The Bill provides for a mandatory application, inspection, approval and registration process for all participants, the purpose of which is to provide independently-backed assurances on the safety of Irish beef. As it will take some time to complete the inspection process, there is provision for transitional arrangements under which all participants will be deemed to be provisionally approved until they have been either granted or refused approval under the scheme.
All participants will be formally inspected and the arrangements for the inspections have been discussed with the various representative organisations. Agreement has been reached with almost all the parties concerned, but a number of issues remain outstanding with regard to the inspection and certification of farms. Discussions are continuing on this point with the farming organisations and it is hoped the matter will be agreed in the near future. I assure Senators there is nothing in the Bill that will prejudice the outcome of these discussions. I am confident that the inspection and certification process will be agreed and will be acceptable to all parties.
Participants who are found to be in compliance with the requirements of the scheme will be issued with final approval and they will be entered into the register of approved participants. The period of validity of the approval will be open ended, although there is provision to set a fixed period of validity for all or some categories of participants, should this prove necessary in the future. Approved participants will be subject to ongoing monitoring to ensure continued compliance with the scheme and there is provision for the making of regulations setting out the procedures for such re-inspections.
Participants who are found not to be in compliance with the scheme, will be informed of the action they must take to bring themselves into compliance and they will be given a reasonable amount of time to do so. However, if they fail to take the necessary action they will be informed that their application for approval is being refused or revoked. Participants will have an opportunity to make representations against such decisions and the matter may also be appealed to the Circuit Court in the event of a refusal or revocation. The final sanction is that participants who have not been granted approval or who lose their approval status, will not be allowed to trade in cattle, beef or feeding stuffs.
It must be stressed that these provisions do not introduce a licensing system to produce beef, rather they seek to ensure that all cattle and beef produced for human consumption in Ireland complies with the statutory requirements and, in particular, that the beef is safe to eat. The provisions are being introduced as much to safeguard and protect producers as to provide assurances to consumers, customers and buyers.
There may be concerns that the scheme will impose an additional burden of costs on producers and processors without delivering benefits in return. This is simply not the case because the vast bulk of producers and processors have absolutely nothing to fear, and everything to gain, from this scheme. They are already complying with the relevant legislation and any additional costs to them should be minimal.
By providing formal certification and approval status, the scheme will enable the industry to give credible assurances to customers and consumers about the quality of Irish beef. It will protect consumers against uninformed comment and criticism in the face of the inevitable food scares, and will allow Ireland to maintain and increase market share against international competition. Ireland is a very large producer of cattle and beef. Some 250,000 people depend on the industry for their living. We export to approximately 57 countries worldwide, thus, we have customers at home and abroad. In recent times, as Senator Quinn will testify, the high standards demanded by the retail sectors have had to be complied with. For the producers wishing to sell to the highly remunerative outlets, the standards demanded by supermarkets and other retail outlets are exceptionally high. Serious producers already comply with those standards. The traceability system means that customers can find the name, address and phone number of the meat producer on their receipt slips. I saw the system working in one of Senator Quinn's supermarkets recently. That is the way in which we should be going. The Bill is an enabling measure to underwrite such a system. The best systems are voluntary, where people voluntarily improve the quality of their beef and milk products. Supermarkets insist on such high standards.
A comprehensive system for animal identification already exists for Irish cattle, including tagging, cattle identity cards and a computerised database which records animal births, location, slaughterings and live exports. The current computer system already records about 12 million events against Irish cattle each year and allows Ireland to provide guarantees and assurances about the origin and identity of cattle.
In 1997, for example, work commenced on a major enhancement of the computerised database with a view to incorporating data on all animal movements, as required by EU law. This system is known as the cattle movement monitoring system and it involves the use of electronic means to capture data on animal movements through computer links established at livestock marts, meat processing plants, export points and anywhere else information can be sourced. A paper notification system is used to record movements where electronic means are not feasible. Implementation of this system is well advanced and it will, when fully operational, provide for verification of the origin, identity and life history of cattle before they enter the food chain. The system is already in operation in relation to private sales and 70 per cent of livestock marts and, to date, some 1.25 million individual animal movements have been recorded. It is currently being introduced at meat export plants, following which it will be extended to live export points and abattoirs producing for the domestic market.
With the co-operation of all concerned, this comprehensive traceability system will be fully in place later this year. There are about eight million cattle in the country and there are many more cattle than people. Cattle in Ireland move more often than cattle in any other country. This system will register all cattle at birth. They will have a passport and the system will electronically record the movements from one farm to another and from farms to marts to other farms through to the consumer's table.
We are more advanced than virtually all other countries on this matter. It is very important that this be the case because there is no use telling a consumer with a problem or who wants to follow something up that an animal was last in one farm if one does not know how many movements it made and how many farms it was in prior to that. It could have been in three or four different farms. It will then be necessary to know what food was consumed by the animal, whether it was grass, concentrate or recycled feed. All of that data is becoming increasingly available and with the co-operation of all concerned this system will be fully in place later this year.
Under the Bill relevant participants will be formally required to notify the movement of all animals on to or off their holdings or premises. There is also provision for the making of regulations for prescribing the form and time of the notifications and also the procedures for the use of the CMMS database to identify and trace animals slaughtered for human consumption. The inclusion of CMMS provisions in the Bill is necessary to provide the requisite legal powers to ensure that participants comply with precise requirements regarding the notification of animal movements and that animals, whose origin and life history cannot be verified, can be barred from entering the human food chain.
We have in Ireland a comprehensive, if not more comprehensive, system than elsewhere to monitor the movement and location of our animal world, which is twice as large as the human world. It means that if an animal is picked up in a mart, factory or farm one will know not only where it came from but all of its movements up to that time. It is a comprehensive and simple system because it is done electronically.
The national beef assurance scheme is a comprehensive and far-reaching scheme which demonstrates the commitment of the Government to further underpinning the credibility of the beef industry. The Bill has the overall support of the industry, although not all parties fully agree with all the provisions. The arrangements for the inspection of farms have still to be agreed.
Some parties will say that the Bill is unduly restrictive, especially on elderly farmers. The market environment for beef has changed radically. We have to provide independently backed and credible guarantees that Irish beef is safe if we are to satisfy consumers' and customers' reasonable and legitimate demands and maintain or increase our market share. This will, of necessity, impose some extra obligations on all elements of the beef sector. However, we have striven to keep these levels consistent with delivering a credible scheme which will address the concerns of consumers and customers of Irish beef.
One of the main aims of the Bill is to ensure that the origin and history of all cattle and beef entering the human food chain can be verified and that they have been produced to acceptable standards. We will have a very credible traceability system for cattle from birth through to factory level. Let no one underestimate the size of this task, which involves recording details of all the events in the life of the national herd together with tracking the millions of cattle movements each year. The system being set up in meat plants and livestock marts will ensure that this can be done. The existing obligations on the retail sector will also provide additional controls. Any gaps or loopholes in the supply chain will be closed by the provision on retailers having to purchase from approved suppliers. It is, of course, open to the industry to provide additional guarantees based on the platform we are providing.
I am confident the package of measures contained in the scheme has struck the right balance and that it will deliver the additional assurances which will enable us to say that beef and beef products produced in Ireland are safe and wholesome to eat. The Bill is comprehensive on food safety, indeed it is a landmark, but it can also be much more. It can serve as a foundation for a concerted marketing drive for Irish beef, both at home and overseas.
Irish beef has great taste and flavour. One will not get better. It is capable of commanding premium prices. While the Bill will demand and require proper attention to safety at all stages of production and processing, it also offers the potential of better returns and guaranteed markets. That is very much in the long-term interests of livestock farmers in Ireland.
We have companies such as Baileys, Kerrygold and Waterford Glass, which are world market leaders. As we approach the dawn of the new millennium we need to establish international recognition for Irish beef. That is the potential and the opportunity. Let us get on with it. I commend the Bill to the House.