Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 July 2004
89 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food when he expects country of origin labelling to be introduced for the catering trade for beef; his plans to introduce similar labelling requirements for other meat products; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20273/04]
View answerI recently announced my intention to proceed with a legal requirement on the restaurant and catering sector to display country of origin in respect of beef served on their premises. This measure will come into effect once the necessary control and implementation arrangements are in place. I made arrangements for this matter to be discussed in the Council of Agriculture Ministers during the Irish Presidency as it is my view that there is a gap in the overall beef labelling regulations that ought to be filled. This was also the view of the food labelling group which I established to examine the whole area of food labelling and the Department's consumer liaison panel.
In the Council discussions, there was little willingness on the part of the European Commission or other member states to extend the scope of the EU regulations to address this issue. However, the Commission confirmed that member states may adopt national compulsory measures under the labelling directive. I have formally notified the Commission of my intention to proceed in this area and my Department is making the necessary arrangements for the early introduction of this measure. When I have evaluated its effect, I will consider the question of extending the scope of the regulations to other products. The general labelling requirements set out in EU and national law apply to all food products sold at retail level.
I thank the Minister for his reply and welcome his decision to introduce country of origin labelling for beef. Will the Minister indicate what he means by early introduction and what timeframe he envisages? More importantly, why is beef set aside as one type of meat for which we have this regulation whereas other meat products are not treated in the same way?
Ireland is particularly advanced in regard to labelling and considerable progress has been made in including accurate, concise and precise information on labels for the general benefit of the consumer. With regard to extending the scope of the present EU directive to restaurants, I sought consensus from colleagues in other member states and the Commission. Regrettably, they did not see the value of this. However, I expect I will be able, in the next few months, to go ahead with this extension of the directive on the labelling of beef in restaurants and the catering sector.
We are obliged to officially notify the Commission and did so on Monday, 20 June last. The detailed examination of that notification by the Commission will be complete by 27 September. At that stage, I can sign the statutory instrument bringing it into effect. In the meantime, I will consult the Restaurants Association of Ireland and the various interested groups to make sure they have the wherewithal to implement this regulation and are in a position to put the country of origin on menus. I will also have to talk with the Food Safety Authority because it will be responsible for control, inspection and so forth. Even if the next couple of months are holiday months, I expect to get this up and running by September.
The second part of my question is, perhaps, even more significant. I accept that the legislation will be implemented with regard to beef. However, there are serious inadequacies with regard to pork and bacon, in particular, and the consumer is being duped. One hears statements that include phrases such as "substantially transform" and "unless it misleads the consumer to a material degree" but none of these is defined. I cannot see what is the difficulty. If the legislation can be introduced with regard to beef, why can the same legislation not be introduced with regard to poultry, which generated a knee-jerk reaction last year following the outbreak of avian flu, and pork and bacon?
I concur with the sentiments expressed by Deputy Upton. She has been to the forefront in seeking the maximum information for consumers. I introduced a number of measures to ensure that customers are given such information in terms of labelling and with regard to traceability generally. That applies as far as retail level. It is only relatively recently that the inclusion of a country of origin designation on menus and in the catering sector has arisen. I am introducing this for beef in the first instance but I give a commitment that, once the teething problems with this are out of the way and the Food Safety Authority has a control mechanism and structures in place, I will follow it through for the other food products, namely, poultry and pork.
