Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 March 2013
115. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he supports the proposal to introduce new legislation, in view of the food contamination cases, to tighten up traceability and country of origin labelling. [14668/13]
View answerThe Minister for Health has overall responsibility for the general food labelling legislation and the new EU food information regulations that were adopted by the Council of Health Minister in December 2011. However, my Department plays an important role in the enforcement of this legislation under service contract to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).
In my capacity as Chairman of the EU Agriculture Council I have, together with my ministerial colleagues and the E U Commission, given a high priority to food labelling issues. Consumers should rightly expect not to be misled by inaccurate labelling and must have confidence in knowing what they are eating. Ireland will continue to show leadership in this area and will work with our E U partners to strengthen consumer assurance measures, including more accurate labelling requirements as set out in the Food Information for the Consumer (FTC) Regulation (1169/2011/EC).
This legislation extended explicit compulsory origin labelling requirements to meats other than beef, with the detailed rules to be adopted in implementing acts by 13 December 2013, following an impact assessment by the Commission.
