Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 February 2004
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Food Safety Standards.
148 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his views on whether the quality and safety of agricultural products from non-EU countries are comparable with those produced within the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4924/04]
View answerThe position with regard to the import of fresh meat and animal products from countries outside the European Community is as follows. Under EU harmonised rules, imports into the European Union from third countries must have been sourced in premises and in countries, which are approved by the European Commission's food and veterinary office, FVO. This office carries out inspections to ensure that only establishments that meet hygiene and health standards equivalent to those operating within the EU are approved. The evaluation of third countries is on the following basis: there are systems in place for the rapid detection, reporting and confirmation of list A diseases of the Office International des Epizooties, OIE; there is access to laboratory facilities that allow detection and confirmation to take place; there are animal disease control systems in place whose operation and outcome must be recorded and demonstrable — for example, registration of holdings, animal identification and movement controls; there are operational contingency plans for the control of and/or the eradication of OIE list diseases; and that the import policy in the country, including its controls, as well as the animal health situation in neighbouring countries, have been assessed as acceptable.
Where the FVO is satisfied that public health requirements are not being met by an approved establishment in a third country, the establishment may be removed from the EU approved list. If outbreaks of animal diseases occur in a third country approval to export to the EU is suspended for the infected regions of the country, or the whole country, as appropriate, until the disease risk has been eliminated.
Animal products being imported into the European Community may only enter through a border inspection post, BIP, that has been approved by the FVO. That office also carries out monitoring and inspection of each member state's BIPs to ensure that the conditions for import of animal products into Europe, provided under harmonised EU legislation, are being correctly applied. In Ireland the border inspection posts approved for administering checks on direct imports of consignments of animal products from third countries are Dublin Port, frozen, chilled and ambient temperature animal products, and Shannon Airport, chilled and ambient only, and these posts are staffed by officials from my Department.
In addition importers must be registered with my Department. They must give advance notice of the arrival of animal products. The products must be accompanied by the appropriate commercial documentation, which shows country and approval number of the establishment of production as well as a health certificate which conforms to the models set down in EU legislation. The products must comply with packing, labelling and temperature control requirements. All consignments undergo a documentary and identity check and physical checks are carried out at frequencies laid down in EU law. Where required, sampling for laboratory analysis for the purposes of safeguarding human and animal health is carried out. Once imported meat has met all the required conditions it is released for free circulation within the community. Copies of the BIP clearance document and the health certificate must accompany the consignment to its destination. Imports failing to comply with these veterinary control checks may be detained for further examination. If non-compliance is established they are returned to the exporting country or destroyed.
There is a harmonised regime on protective measures against the introduction into and spread within the Community of organisms harmful to plants and plant products. This regime includes, depending on risk, such measures as prohibitions, certification, surveillance, treatment, inspection on entry and destruction of offending material. It also includes special measures where Ireland is recognised as having protected zone status within the community. The plant health regime is implemented strictly by my Department.
Food of plant origin which is imported into the community from outside of the EU is subject to the same controls that apply to domestically produced produce. To date the monitoring programme in place dealing with pesticide residues does not indicate that there is any increased risk to the consumer associated with the consumption of food of plant origin imported into the EU from third countries.
Marketing standards for fresh fruit and vegetables are laid down at EU level and checks on compliance take place on the internal market and at the point of import. Before release for free circulation products from third countries are checked for conformity with these standards and a certificate of conformity must issue in this regard. In certain cases these conformity checks may be carried out by the third country, provided that country has been approved by the EU Commission.
