Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 March 2004
11 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his plans to ensure that border inspection posts are adequately resourced to ensure that foods from accession countries meet EU standards and that the level of traceability is the same as food produced in other EU countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9170/04]
View answerWith effect from 1 May 2004, the ten accession countries comprising Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia will become member states of the European Community and, in accordance with the provisions of the treaty establishing the European Community and the Treaties of Accession, may, subject to meeting appropriate standards, trade with the other member states of the EU without the requirement for border controls for the purposes of animal and public health.
The standards with regard to trade are contained within Community legislation providing for health and safety controls on production and on intra-Community trade in animals, animal and plant products and foods. These controls apply in particular to the structure of and hygiene in establishments and the control and the health marking of the products.
It has been a key element of the enlargement negotiations in the agriculture sector that the candidate countries transpose the EU's veterinary legislation into their own national legislation and undertake its full and effective implementation from the date of accession. The objective has been to ensure that enlargement does not result in any dilution of the existing EU levels of public health, food safety, animal health, and animal welfare. Furthermore, candidate countries have been required to ensure that all their external borders satisfy the levels of controls required within the EU and to make sure that full and effective enforcement of the internal market control systems takes place from the day of accession. The Food and Veterinary Office, FVO, of the Commission monitors the implementation of these controls by the acceding states.
In order to facilitate the transition from the existing arrangements in the new member states to the EU control system and to take account of stocks of products and packaging on hand in those states at the date of accession, the Commission has taken a formal decision laying down transitional measures for the marketing of products originating in those states.
Practically speaking these ensure that with effect from 1 May 2004 products produced in accession states before the date of accession and which bear the national health mark may only be placed on the market within the state in question up to the end of 2004; and products that have been produced in the period before accession by an export approved establishment and which bear the EU approved health mark may, up to 30 August 2004 only, be traded within the EU provided the commercial document accompanying the products certifies they are products "Produced before 1 May 2004, in conformity with the Commission Decision".
