Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 November 2004
23 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if she has put in place a mechanism whereby all animal feed imported will undergo rigorous testing; if she has concerns about the quality and safety of imported animal feed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29312/04]
View answer35 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if she will provide details of the company importing the beet pulp which was found to be contaminated with bone; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29344/04]
View answer45 Mr. English asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the action she intends to take in view of the recent case of imported animal feed contaminated with traces of bone to ensure that such an incident is not repeated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29201/04]
View answer66 Dr. Twomey asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if she has conducted a full investigation into two consignments of contaminated beet pulp which arrived here in October 2004; if all procedures regarding importing this feed were followed; the way in which her attention has been drawn to this issue; the steps which were taken by her Department when its attention was drawn to the issue; the issues which remain to be resolved; if she has satisfied herself that none of this feed entered the food chain; the location of these two consignments now; the person who is responsible for dealing with them; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29213/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 23, 35, 45 and 66 together.
Greenvale Limited imported two shipments of sugar beet pulp into Ireland on October 18 and 22 respectively. Samples of the feed material were taken, in accordance with the Department's feedingstuffs control plan, and were found on analysis to contain traces of terrestrial animal bone. A total of 4,160 tonnes of beet pulp was imported in both shipments from Germany via Rotterdam.
Upon notification of the presence of the bone, my Department put into operation the provisions of its contingency plan for animal feed and the provisions of the standard operating procedure for dealing with such cases which was recently negotiated with the Irish Grain and Feed Association. The EU Commission was also informed by means of the rapid alert system for food and feed.
The success of the above procedures resulted in 96% of the original consignment being detained or recalled to the port stores. The remainder was incorporated into a total of 880 tonnes of animal feed that was sold to 234 farmers. As a precautionary measure a total of 1,770 tonnes of animal feed, significantly in excess of the feed manufactured from the pulp in question, was recalled from these farmers and is currently under detention in dedicated stores. The importer has been asked to submit proposals regarding the disposal of the detained product for consideration by my Department.
Following discussions with the FSAI during which the risks involved were analysed, and given the low level of contamination and the extensive recall of affected material, my Department is satisfied that the danger to human and animal health is negligible. It must also be noted that while the bone spicules detected in the consignment were of animal origin, it is not possible to determine from what species they originated.
My Department operates very stringent controls on imports of animal feedingstuffs at all levels of the feed chain, including the sampling and analysis for the presence of bone spicules of all imported bulk shipments of feed materials. These controls are based on the provision of EU directives which permit random sampling on non-discriminatory basis. The standard operating procedures or SOP for the sampling, analysis and follow-up of positive results for processed animal proteins in animal feedingstuffs are implemented. The SOP, inter alia, provides for the detention of imports from third countries, selected on a risk criteria basis, which cannot be released into circulation until the microscopic analysis results are available. There is also a specific contingency plan in place in the Department for dealing with feed safety incidents in which the FSAI is closely involved.
This country has a high dependence on imported animal feed. It should be recognised that this is only the third such incident in two years, during which time some 1,600 consignments of feed were imported involving over 5 million tones. I am satisfied that the inspection and control procedures in place which are aimed at detecting contamination at the earliest possible stage and preventing or containing the movement of the contaminated material into the feed chain are working effectively and efficiently.
