Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 January 2013
562. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will extend the traceability system in place for cattle, sheep and pigs to horses in view of the adulteration of beef burgers with horse meat; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3040/13]
View answerRegulation (EC) No. 178 of 2002, which sets out the general principles and requirements of EU food law, stipulates among other things that food business operators at all stages of production, processing and distribution within the businesses under their control must ensure that foods satisfy the requirements of food law. Specifically in regard to traceability, the regulations require that food business operators must have systems in place to be able to identify any person from whom they have been supplied with a food. They must also have a system in place to identify the other businesses to which their product has been supplied. In other words a food business operator at each and every stage in the food chain must be able to identify the source of its inputs as well as having details of the first recipient of its output. This is commonly referred to as the “one step forward one step backward” traceability system.
The Department implements official controls on horse identification at marts and other sales venues, in abattoirs and at points of entry to the country. Where forged or tampered passports accompanying horses to slaughter are detected, it is Department policy that such animals are destroyed and removed from the food chain.
The Department maintains ongoing vigilance in relation to official controls on the identification of horses through national and EU legislation. In this connection, the European Communities (Equine) (Amendment) Regulations, S.I. No. 371/2012, introduced recently, provide for the updating of S.I. No. 357/2011 (European Communities (Equine) Regulations 2011) to strengthen the powers of the Minister in relation to approval of an issuing body for equine passports, authorised officers and prosecutions in relation to equine identification.
The Department is also developing a central database (traceability system) of horses which will involve migration of selected data from passport issuing organisations to the Department. The database will be populated by information provided from the databases maintained by the passport issuing organisations; by the Department from records obtained from sources such as slaughter plants and knackeries; and by Local Authority Veterinary Inspectors in respect of records maintained at appropriate slaughter plants.
