Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 May 2006
162 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the progress made regarding substantial transformation of food products; if the Commission has published a consultation paper on the matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18939/06]
View answer"Substantial transformation" is a procedure used in normal business operations to allow operators to declare goods as being manufactured in the country where considerable processing has taken place. I am very concerned that this practice might be used to mislead consumers as to the origin of the product. I have raised this issue directly with the Commission on a number of occasions and indeed have been in contact with the EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Mr. Kyprianou again earlier this year about the matter. Subsequently the Commission decided to review EU labelling. In this context the Commission recently published a consultative document on "Labelling: Competitiveness, Consumer Information and Better Regulation in the EU" and invited Member States for submissions by mid June 2006. My Department is currently preparing a submission in which we will again raise this matter.
